PRAISE FOR SHORT LEASH: A MEMOIR OF DOG WALKING AND DELIVERANCE
“Janice Gary achieves a remarkable feat, taking the reader on a vast inward journey toward freedom from the effects of real trauma in her youth as she walks her dog in a public park. With Barney by her side, she faces her deepest fears and discovers the grace of the natural world, the power of love and the potency of her own strengths. There were innumerable times when I was just knocked over by this book. This is a stunningly beautiful story told by a gifted writer.”
— Meredith Hall, author of The New York Times bestseller Without a Map
“Sometimes redemption comes in the form of a rambunctious four-legged creature. Such is the case with Short Leash: A Memoir of Dog Walking and Deliverance. In this beautifully written book, the author’s beloved dog Barney tugs and ultimately drags his emotionally damaged human companion through parks and paths to an inner place of strength, joy and freedom from her painful past.”
— Mira Bartók, author of the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning memoir The Memory Palace.
“Gary's book reminds me not only what dogs bring to our lives—their warmth, strength and acceptance of the imperfect humans they live with—but of what words are for. The words in Short Leash leap off the page, carving Barney, his imperfect human and their extraordinary landscape deep into my memory. Luminously spiritual, unflinchingly honest, this book re-makes its genre into a profound meditation.”
— Louise Bernikow, author of Dreaming in Libro: How a Good Dog Tamed A Bad Woman and Bark if You Love Me.
“Short Leash isn't quite a dog book even though the cover and title relates to a big, lovable black Lab named Barney. Instead, it's an impossibly beautiful portrait of two damaged souls and how they lean on one another to heal, hurt, and find their way back to happiness after unspeakable tragedy. Through it all, Gary writes with a sure-hand, crafting beautiful, rhapsodic passages that span every emotion.”
– Craig Manning, Independent Publisher.com
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
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Winner of the 2014 Nautilus Award for Memoir and Nature
Finalist for Eric Hoffer Award for Memoir
Awarded The May Sarton Award for Women’s Memoir