AudioBook "The Puppy Diaries: Raising a Dog Named Scout" by Jill Abramson

About the Book: An instructive and marvelously entertaining chronicle of a puppy's first year, by the executive editor of The New York Times. One sparkling summer day, Jill Abramson brought home a nine-week-old golden retriever named Scout. Over the following year, as she and her husband raised their adorable new puppy, Abramson wrote a hugely popular column for The New York Times's website about the joys and challenges of training this rambunctious addition to their family. Dog-lovers from across the country inundated her with e-mails and letters, and the photos they sent in of their own dogs became the most visited photo album on the Times's site in 2009. Now Abramson has gone far beyond the material in her column and written a detailed and deeply personal account of Scout's first year. Part memoir, part manual, part investigative report, The Puppy Diaries continues Abramson's intrepid reporting on all things canine. Along the way, she weighs in on such issues as breeders or shelters, adoption or rescue, raw diet or vegan, pack-leader gurus like Cesar Millan or positive-reinforcement advocates like Karen Pryor. What should you expect when a new puppy enters your life? With utterly winning stories and a wealth of practical information, The Puppy Diaries provides an essential road map for navigating the first year of your dog's life.

About the Author: Jill Ellen Abramson (born March 19, 1954) is the executive editor of The New York Times. Assuming the position in September 2011, she became the first woman in this role in the paper's 160-year history. A native of New York City, Abramson received her high school diploma from Ethical Culture Fieldston School and a B.A. in History and Literature from Harvard University in 1976. While a student at Harvard, she worked at Time magazine from 1973 to 1976 and subsequently spent nearly a decade as a senior staff reporter for The American Lawyer. In 1986, she was appointed as editor in chief of Legal Times in Washington, D.C., serving for two years. From 1988 to 1997, she was a senior reporter in the Washington bureau of The Wall Street Journal, eventually rising to deputy bureau chief. She became the chief of The New York Times Washington bureau upon her move to the newspaper in 1997. Abramson was the Times' Washington Bureau chief during the turbulent period of Spring 2003 during the run-up to the war in Iraq and the Jayson Blair scandal, which led to the resignation of Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd. Abramson was named to the news Managing Editor position (with co-Managing Editor John M.Geddes) by Raines' successor Bill Keller. In 1995, Abramson and her The Wall Street Journal colleague (and Fieldston alumna) Jane Mayer co-authored Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas, which detailed circumstances surrounding the confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas. Maureen Dowd would later write of having bonded with Abramson during that time. From 2000–01, she was a professor at Princeton University. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001. In February 2007, Abramson testified in the perjury trial of Scooter Libby, United States v. Libby. She was called as a defense witness to undercut the credibility of Judith Miller. On June 2, 2011, it was announced that Abramson would become the executive editor of the Times in September 2011, replacing Bill Keller who would step down from the position to become a full time writer. An unabashed dog lover, she has long been fascinated by the complex relationship between dogs and their owners. She, her husband, and Scout live in New York City and Connecticut.

My Review: This audio book comes in a 4-CD compilation, read by Beth MacDonald, with a running time of 5 hours (unabridged).
This is a very well written book, telling us the story of the first year of Scout living with her new owners. It begins with the initial accommodation after being separated from her mother, but still living in a farm environment in Connecticut. Later the adaptation to live in New York City. The author describes in all details all her struggles to make their lives proceed with this new family member. Sometimes being very comical, sometimes sarcastic, she tells about all the services available for dogs in NYC that mimic services for humans, sometimes being even more expensive for dogs than the equivalent ones for humans. All training efforts are very well described and all the worries about health care and vet also are presented in this book. She also describes the interaction between Scout and the other dogs in the neighborhood and her personal interpretation on many situations lived by them.
The narration of Beth MacDonald makes this listening very entertaining. Excellent option for a long commuting. If you have to drive for about one hour, this should last for a week's worth of entertainment.

This is a must have in the permanent library of any dog lover.


This audiobook was published by Macmillan Audio in October 2011 and Amazon.com was kind enough to provide this audiobook for me through their Vine Program for reviewing and I was not request to provide a positive review. Opinions expressed here are my own.

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