Pack of Two

The Intricate Bond Between People and Dogs

By: Caroline Knapp

Narrated by: Hilary Swank

Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

In Pack of Two, the author of the acclaimed best seller Drinking: A Love Story tackles a different sort of relationship. Two-time Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby) guides us into the life of Caroline Knapp who, after losing both parents to cancer and breaking off a two-decade long relationship with alcohol in the span of one year, struggles - and succeeds - to redefine her world.

The unlikely solution to Knapp’s task was found in the form of a dog named Lucille. After 18 months of sobriety, she brought home an eight-week old puppy from a local animal shelter, a puppy that became a central force in her life. Knapp brings her fresh insight into emotional and psychological issues to the complicated terrain of human-animal relationships. Along with mining her own experience with Lucille, Knapp speaks to a variety of dog people - from owners to professionals - about this profoundly healing alliance.

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©1998 Caroline Knapp (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Wonderful but Somewhat Sad

This was a fairly short book, and as a devoted dog parent, I found that it went quickly. This audiobook was narrated by Hilary Swank which added a lot to the listening experience. Pack of Two is a very personal account of the author's relationship with her dog, Lucille, and how it enriched and deepened her life. However, it provides both sides of the dog/human bond, including some of the very special benefits as well as darker aspects that, in some unfortunate cases, became pathological.

There were times when I honestly felt sorry for Caroline Knapp because she seemed so needy and isolated. I really love our three dogs and spend a great deal of time working and playing with them, but this author was truly obsessed with Lucille, her only close connection in the world. I was glad she had this wonderful being in her life, a dog she had rescued from probable euthanasia in a shelter, but she seemed so concerned with the possible abnormality of their relationship that I pitied her a little. She gave examples of friends with similar issues, a few of whom were pretty scary. Her own background was quite tragic, involving a lonely childhood, struggles with anorexia, and alcoholism. Her relationship with her dog in her mid-thirties was the first in her life that felt authentic and satisfying.

As a pretty fanatic animal lover myself, I identified with her devotion to her dog, and I enjoyed the book mostly. I only wish her life had been happier in other ways. She died several years after writing this book of lung cancer, and I can't help wondering what happened to Lucille when Caroline was no longer there to care for her. I can only hope a family member or friend has adopted the dog and continued to provide her with the love and devotion she had come to depend upon. We owe our animals that for the many gifts they give us.

Dog lover

Great book! I know exactly how the author feels because I also am one of "those" people. My dogs are the world to me and the author makes me feel like I am not crazy, that there are many of use like this. Enjoyed this book a lot and Hilary Swank was a great narrator.

Definitely for dog lovers

Laughed and cried. Will listen again and again. Quit drinking and get yourself a dog.

What we and our dogs mean to each other

Caroline Knapp was a writer and columnist who wrote a best-selling memoir about her struggle with alcoholism--Drinking: A Love Story. This is a different but related story. After losing her father to cancer, her mother to cancer, and quitting drinking in the space of eighteen months, Knapp had some large holes in her life, and needed something to refocus her life.

She got a dog, a ten-week-old mixed breed shelter dog she named Lucille.

Knapp had grown up with dogs in the home, but had never been the responsible dog owner. She and Lucille both had a lot to learn, and a lot to teach each other.

Knapp lived in the Greater Boston area, and her story covers familiar geographic area along with the experience of becoming a dog person, learning what our dogs can give us and what they can't, and what we need to give our dogs so they can be happy, healthy, and a positive part of our lives. Dogs don't speak English, and they're not equipped to fully understand the complexities of human society. We have to supply that for them, and give them rules and structure they can understand, so that they can do for us what they do best. Knapp recounts how she unintentionally taught Lucille separation anxiety, and then had to help her recover from it. A friend of hers who wanted a big, strong dog to keep her safe, unintentionally allowed her dog to take charge of deciding who the threats were--and had to fix that dangerous error.

But part of the point here is that yes, you can train your dog, and if you make mistakes, usually you can fix those mistakes, if you take responsibility and take the necessary steps. Breed traits matter, but so does human responsibility.

Another recurring theme in the book is the weird and judgmental way people who don't have pets react to people who recognize their pets as genuine sentient beings, not humans, but real beings with their own personalities and gifts. Yes, I love my dog, as I have loved previous dogs and cats, and each has made a meaningful contribution to my life--contributions that humans couldn't have made, because humans, dogs, cats, horses, all bring different things to the table in our relationships with them.

So, yes, I have loved them all, and mourned the loss of each and every one, and yes, if you roll your eyes at my grief, or at my joy when a new pet joins my life, or delight at what they do, I am noting and judging your lack of empathy, and the gaping hole in your life from not being able to relate to a non-human who has a fundamentally different view of the world than you do. Or, indeed, a fellow human, with a slightly different view of the world than you.

My current dog is my service dog, and makes it possible for me to leave the house and interact somewhat normally with the world. You not only aren't doing that, but couldn't do that, not in the easy, unpressured way that she does. Nor do humans have the same attentiveness to body language that dogs do; she knows when I need help when, for the humans around me, I'm keeping the lid on.

The "pack of two" isn't like other relationships we have, and it's not a substitute for those other relationships. It's its own thing, valuable in its own right, and plays a vital role for many of us, in being stable, happy, and healthy.

I bought this audiobook.

Why I shouldn't ever own a dog

This book demonstrated for me why I shouldn’t ever become a dog owner. Ms. Knapp’s description of the qualities and attitudes a person needs to maintain to successfully train a dog do not mesh with my personal qualities at all.

However, she also sheds a lot of light on the mysteries of why so many people do love dogs, and that is not a bad thing to know, even for non-dog people.

She also shed a lot of light on the psychological aspects of the relationship between dogs and people. It seems sad to me that so many people are so devoted to their dogs because they were abused or neglected by their families.

The narration on this one was absolutely outstanding.

They're All Gifts From Heaven

Very Good!. You've been on your new path for some time now Ms. Knap , as this book was published 1989, if I'm correct. And whatever your doing right now , if // when you read this, that always remember the love and all the gifts this dear friend has awakened inside of you! I truly believe that All of the pets [ and neighborhood furry friends! ha! I Can tell you all of their names because they couldn't tell me their possible others,...so of course, .....I gave all of them a name ..... from Me! We all need one for the chats and hanging out ...ha!, ha! ] I have had ,and have, such great fortune to love, and be loved by, are Gifts from Heaven. I'm also sure in saying, that we both hold close to our heart in knowing, will see them again!. Thanks for sharing a piece of yours
~·~ Take it easy ! ~·~

Awesome!

Everyone Who ever feel the connection need to hear it!
Hillary's performance is excellent !! Sometimes funny and sometimes just...touching
I cried several times. But at the end I felt that I never will be the same,me ,my dog 's memories and my puppie.
Thank you very much!

perfect dogwalk listen

had to buy "let's take the long way home" as a follow-up because I needed to know what happened to Lucille after Caroline's death.

Not what I expected, but really good!

I thought that this would be just a memoir about the author and her dog; while that was certainly a lot of the story, I was happily surprised to hear the psychological aspects of the human and dog relationship. Her life is woven in, as well as her fears and emotions about her dog and others. I could relate to her feelings about her dog, particularly her fear of being left alone once the dog was gone. I had (and still have) similar fears about my dog, so I can definitely relate to that. It was especially poignant hearing the author talking about how she knows the dog will go before her, yet knowing that she died at a young age (early 40s). I don't know if the dog actually survivied her or not, but this part struck an emotional chord with me. I also loved the part where she was examining her life and realized that while it may not be what she or others expected, she realizes that the question to as is: "does it feel right for you?" How true! After reading this book, I intend to read her book about her battle with drinking as well as her friend's book about their friendship and her untimely death. Hilary Swank did an outstanding job with the narration. You can tell that she loves dogs, as there were times in the book where you could tell the emotion was coming through.

Intelligent, self-absorbed file a deux

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Interesting and charming when she gets out of her own head and focuses on Lucille, the rescue dog who became the center of this very bright writer's hapless universe.

Would you be willing to try another book from Caroline Knapp? Why or why not?

No, too much carolyn...though she can write up a storm, she is blindingly articulate.

What does Hilary Swank bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She is a quirky and brilliant actor.

Do you think Pack of Two needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No.