Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show

Memoirist and podcaster Tomlinson (The Elephant in the Room) offers an enjoyable inside scoop on the Westminster Dog Show. Following a charismatic Samoyed named Striker, Tomlinson takes listeners through the ins and outs of this remarkable championship. Along the way, he pauses for pop culture “pee breaks” and musings about the human-dog bond. These asides fill at least as many pages as the dog shows. Tomlinson’s love for the animal is as obvious as his jokes, which will surely warm the hearts of anyone who’s shared a cute puppy-related Facebook meme. While Tomlinson poses questions about the inner lives of show dogs and often leans into humor, he also impresses with the depth of his canine knowledge. Additionally, as all pet owners know, heartbreak is part and parcel of the animal world; Tomlinson expresses this poignantly with a tangent into his own experiences as a dog dad. Narrator Jonathan Davis delivers the humor, the interviews, and even the sad stories in an easy manner—conversational with a neighborly warmth.