Louis McDonald, Jr. is 63 years old. His wife of 37 years has left him, he's not close to his daughter, and his father has just passed, possibly leaving Louis a large inheritance. In anticipation of this inheritance, Louis has retired from his job, staying at home watching reality TV, avoiding his ex-wife and daughter, and drinking beer. One day, he impulsively stops at a house advertising free dogs and meets mixed-breed Layla. Unexpectedly, he takes her, even though he doesn't know anything about dogs. Soon, it's all dog parks, bologna and extra hamburgers as Louis navigates his life with Layla by his side.
I'm just going to say it: I am not the reader for this book. I'm sure other people will love this book, finding it droll or amusing, but I just didn't get it. I felt like it was a lot of stream-of-consciousness from a character that I neither liked nor found particularly interesting. I kept reading because I kept expecting something to happen. However, what happened was less than I had hoped and by the time I reached the end, I felt completely secure in my feeling that this book just isn't something that resonated with me.
I will say that the author creates characters you can easily envision, and the narrative rolls along (to me, much like a 1982 Buick Regal with no air conditioning and cloth seats that smell like old fast food. It's not overly pleasant, but at least you make some progress going down the road).
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