Marley and Me

Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog

By: John Grogan

Narrated by: John Grogan

Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wriggly yellow furball of a puppy. Life would never be the same.

Marley quickly grew into a barreling, 97-pound streamroller of a Labrador retriever. He crashed through screen doors, gouged through drywall, and stole women's undergarments. Obedience school did no good, Marley was expelled.

And yet his heart was pure. Just as Marley joyfully refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. A dog like no other, Marley remained steadfast, a model of devotion, even when his family was at its wit's end. Unconditional love, they would learn, comes in many forms.

©2005 John Grogan (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

• 2006 Quill Award Winner

"Grogan's chronicle of the adventures parents and children (eventually three) enjoyed with the overly energetic but endearing dog is delivered with great humor. Dog lovers will love this account of Grogan's much loved canine." (Publishers Weekly)

terrible

easily the worst book i've ever tried reading. i have a lab and i thought this would be a fun thing to read. the writer is clearly a novice. i would not recommend this to anyone.

Boring and vapid

What a terrible book. I really want to like it, because I like the dog way more than either of the people.
Some things in this book seriously infuriated me (like saying a training collar is designed to bring the dog to "gasping submission" - that's not how a training collar works or is supposed to be used) while I simply found most of it to be boring.
The author's voice is pretty terrible for reading as well.
Don't waste a credit.

Very Enjoyable

Definite Read

Decent Book Bad Reader

I liked the book, but I think I'd have liked it better reading it rather than listening to it. The author reads the book, and although he is a good storyteller, he reads as if he's reading his memoir to a group of 1st graders. His tone and pacing is somewhat irritating and I felt like in some senses it was like being read "down" to. It's hard to explain, but if you listen to a sample you'll understand.
The book is great, the reader is not. Buy the actual book, it's soooo worth not listening to him read it.

Hard Voice to Listen To

The story itself was fine. Funny and sad. As a dog owner/lover I could relate to much of it. However, the author was perhaps not the best suited to read his own story. His voice nasaly and with a heavy mid-weastern accent, his narrating lacking any emotion, it was a bit of a struggle to listen through to the end. I would recommend the actual book for sure, but not so much the audio. Definitely listen to the sample before you buy.

Author sounds gay

Couldn't get passed the first chapter, because of his voice. re-record with someone else please. I wish I had have listen to the sample first. what a waste of money. I was really suprised that the one reading it was the author, because I was sure he was gay. But now I know why they hired him for the part.

One of the worst

After Marley dies, John Grogen (a newspaper columnist) states "I wanted to write a farewell column to Marley, but I was afraid that all of my emotion would pour out in a gushy, maudlin piece of self-indulgence that would only humiliate me". So instead he decides to dedicate a whole book to it? This is not a book about Marley or the trials, tribulations and benefits of dog ownership, it is Grogen's autobiography for the 13 years he happened to own a dog.

It is not insightful, it is painful. I know far more than I care to about the Grogan family. I really don't care that you waited in the car while Jenny bought the home pregnancy kit because "there are some things guys just aren't meant to shop for". Grow up!

I have never been so let down by a book. I expected a story that made me consider how pet ownership might give me a new outlook on everyday problems. I got a story about about a very average man's life.

The only thing worse than reading this, is listening to Grogen's whiney, pitchy voice.

Entertaining but simple

I enjoyed this interesting and amusing human interest story -- but it is not particularly well written. It tells the sometimes touching story of a man and his dog.

I know a lot of people have raved about it -- which is why I chose it -- but candidly the language is somewhat sophomoric and the narrator's voice is an acquired taste that I did not ever get comfortable with.

Listen to the sample before you buy/download it.

worst listen

It is difficult for me to say wether the book was good or not due to the poor reading. I wish I would have listened to the other reviews and not bought the book.

Must read for dog lovers

Absolutely heart warming.