sweet yet satisfying. Getting to know Bunkie was a wonderful treat, the tears came unexpectedly. I am always a soft touch for anyone who loves animals, There were some sweet moments, but the writing could use some polish, The first thing I noticed about this book is that there is no colon after 'Maniac' on the front cover but then again maybe I'm just being an ass.
The second thing I noticed was that it retails for,but only has about ninety sparsely filled pages, . . luckily for me I won a copy of this book and price wasn't a factor, It's officially listed as havingpages, which it does, but a bunch of those are blank and are intended for notes, These pages appear at the end of chapters but sometimes they don't and so just seemed sporadic, It confused me as to why they were there in the first place as this a very easy, straightforward read I finished the whole book in a little undermins and I'm not a very fast reader and making notes on chapters that are five pages long and probably contain a little more than a couple of hundred words per page seems pointless.
The story itself is a true account of one man and his love for his dog, From the outset he appears to have more love for his dog than he does his wife Nicole like in this instance where he first lays eyes upon Bunkie and has to have him:
".
. . I could feel my wife's eyes burning into my brain I knew I would pay dearly if I bought that dog, . . I wanted the dog Nicole was not happy, I told her that I bought the dog for her, . . what a liar I was, that dog was mine, . . "
And that sets the tone for the book, in relation to his soon to be exwife, as Mr Emery proceeds to recount tale after tale of Bunkie and constantly reminds us how much he loved him.
To be honest I found it all very strange as no matter what Bunkie does he is immediately forgiven and immortalized by the incident, For instance, throughout his life Bunkie had a habit of peeing everywhere such as in the car, on carpets, on people etc and rather than being viewed as something negative it's laughed off as being just the kind of dog Bunkie was.
. . his lovable personality if you will, Perhaps I'm just of a different mindset to most but if I had an adult dog that enjoyed urinating on me then I wouldn't be immortalizing the deed and having a laugh about it.
Oddly enough, the almost God like worship that is bestowed upon Bunkie by his owner in this book is what makes it a fascinating read, I have had dogs myself and as much as I loved them I believe the love of a pet has to be on a whole other level to immortalize them in a book.
That's not necessarily a bad thing just different to where my mindset is at, If you are one of those people who have as much love for your pets as you do your own siblings you will no doubt love this book, If you are a casual pet owner, or don't have pets at all, then you may well admire the author's love and admiration of Bunkie but might find the immortalizing of Bunkie a little odd.
All in all it's an unoffensive, pleasant little read but a tad pricey perhaps for the minimal content, As such you might want to loan a copy from a friend or the library rather than out and out buying it,
a very sweet book I am a dog person and this book mad me laugh and love my pups more! "A Man and His Maniac: The Bunkie Story" Second Edition is a humorous standalone memoir of Bunkie, the yellow Labrador Retriever wonder dog.
This memoir was penned by Bunkie's owner and buddy Charles Frankin Emery III or just Chuck to those folks that know him, This book deals with the travails and blessings that our furry compatriots impart to our lives, Such a cute little story! If you love dogs, definitely read! I really enjoyed this book, It had me laughing, and in tears! It reminds me of a well behaved version of the book "Marley and Me!" A definite must read for any dog lover! If you have an unusually energetic dog, you need to read this.
I loved this story of Bunkie, Being a dog lover, I can understand Mr Emerys feelings and his decisions, Thank god my dog is not like Bunkie and even if he was I couldn't love him less, A collection of short stories about a man and his dog, Some were funny, some were touching, and some made me want to slug the author for allowing his "beloved" pet into the situations he was in like letting the dog ride in the back of a pick upgrr.
Owning two yellow labs myself, I can totally relate to many of the stories he told, I enjoyed his hunting stories the most as they remind me of our hunting dog,
My irritation with the author's bad decisions made me rate this atinstead of, Also, the writing isn't the best in the world, but it's an entertaining read just the same, A very quick read about a man's life with his dog, The book preface tells us that the contents of this book were taken out of another book by the same author called "Dad, Dog, and Fish", Apparently this book takes just the chapters about the dog Bunkie, and puts them into one chronologically ordered book as a pet memoir,
This book is a nice way for the author to memorialize his dog, I have to admit though that I am amazed that old Bunkie lived into his teen years, since he had so many accidents and injuries in his life, I think the dog hadlives! The true story of the love between a man and his dog, He shared the joys of having the dog in his life, He also shared the loss when it was time to put his beloved friend down,
A First Reads Win! This is the life and adventures of one man and his loveable pup, While sometimes crazy and more often than not heart stopping so many accidents for one dog!, you will walk away with a greater appreciation of your dog or pet and the loving bond you share.
Happy reading! This was my first eBook experience despite that the listing is for the paperback, got it for free on the Nook from Barnes and Noble, A Man and His Maniac reminded me of an abridged version of Merle's Door, another book I highly enjoyed, Emery included the Bunkie stories in another book of his, about his family and life experiences in general, but created a new work for those specifically interested in just the period of his life with the dog, thus the short length of the piece.
Anyone who owns a dog or is owned by one, particularly one like Bunkie, will enjoy the stories, What I mean by 'like Bunkie' is a flatulent, meatstealing, humping, ball of doggy love, one who is loyal to his master, a natural hunting dog, and loves a good ride in a pickup truck.
In a nutshell, a 'man's dog', though I too fell for Bunkie despite being female, Emery takes readers on a journey through Bunkie's life, from buying him forfrom a lady on the street with a
box of puppies, all the way to his waning years living with Emery's parents due to Emery needing to take a job outof state, and how Bunkie and Emery's father were just what each other needed at that time in their lives.
In between Bunkie goes hunting often, fathers some puppies with the attractive Collie next door, defies death on multiple occasions, and reminds everyone why he needs to be an 'outside dog' despite the sad eyes he uses to try to work his way into the house.
I laughed often during the book, but unlike 'Merle's Door' and other books where the dog's whole life is encompassed, I didn't cry, Emery didn't dwell on Bunkie's death, just that he knew when Bunkie began to suffer badly and made the necessary tough decision, I of course would have liked more Bunkie stories, but considering it's a free book, I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to get this glimpse into the lives of a man and his dog, I mean maniac.
I read this book in less than two hours it's a very quick read and I loved it, I do love book about dogs I found this one very heartwarming and I will admit that I did cry! If you're a dog lover, read it you won't be disappointed! You will only get it if you have loved.
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One of many books about an dog who has 'character', This is from a much longer story about Charles life, If you have ver had a dog which you love more than life itself, that had real character it's worth a read, Heartbreaking of course, because there can never be a happy ending but the joy and pleasure from Bunkie and dogs like him will live on, I loved this book. It literally was laugh out loud funny, The author obviously loved his dog greatly and they had tons of great and not so great! adventures together, Pick it up it's a quick read! Charles Franklin Emery III was born in Los Angeles, California in, He joined the US Navy Submarine force inand spent the following six years on Fast Attack and Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines as a Sonar Technician and Sonar Supervisor.
He forged a career in commercial Nuclear Power and is now a Consulting Engineer to various electric utilities, He is an avid fisherman, Drag Racing is also a passion and hisPlymouth Savoy Nostalgia Super Stocker provides the needed outlet, He now resides with a Boston Terrier horde and his wife Sherry in Port Saint Lucie, Florida, .