A Three Dog Life: A Memoir

By: Abigail Thomas

Narrated by: Abigail Thomas

Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

When Abigail Thomas’s husband, Rich, was hit by a car, his brain shattered. Subject to rages, terrors, and hallucinations, he must live the rest of his life in an institution. He has no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before. This tragedy is the ground on which Abigail had to build a new life. How she built that life is a story of great courage and great change, of moving to a small country town, of a new family composed of three dogs, knitting, and friendship, of facing down guilt and discovering gratitude. It is also about her relationship with Rich, a man who lives in the eternal present, and the eerie poetry of his often uncanny perceptions. This wise, plainspoken, beautiful audiobook enacts the truth Abigail discovered in the five years since the accident: You might not find meaning in disaster, but you might, with effort, make something useful of it.

©2006 Abigail Thomas (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Poignant and oddly inspirational.

I did love this story even though it's a sad one. Lots of things in it hit a memory of my own or reminded me that I know other women who I felt should read it too. I'm kind of glad it was short but I will be recommending it.

Drop Everything, Read!

I recommend this book to anyone. Period.

But most especially, anyone dealing with loss, trauma,aging, youth. Anyone looking for perspective. A Three Dog Life will give you an open door into a place where your own perspective can be heard, by you. It’s a place of forgiveness, judgement, despair and joy. It’s a rollercoaster. It’s life. It’s amazing. Sometimes I play it one more time, just to hear Abby’s voice ... just to know ... that I didn’t know ... what I knew all along.

wonderfully honest and bittersweet.

I listened non stop start to finish. laughed and cried. life and agiing in its most honest prose!

Good read

I liked everything about this book. I like how the author tells her story and how authentic she is. She has a soothing voice so for me it was and is, easy to listen to. I love all her books and would recommend this, along with everything else she has written. One of my favorite authors!

Way with Words

The author has such an excellent, picturesque way of taking you through moments and years. Sad but thought provoking for sure.

A very difficult book

My late husband spent 15 years with Parkinson’s, slowly drifting into dementia, to a point where he fell in love with a woman 12 years his senior in his nursing home. So there were many relatable moments in this book. What killed it for me was the author’s narration. It was absolutely atrocious and made it very difficult to listen to. Enough said.

Eloquent & Honest

This book is beautifully written and gently narrated by the author. It is--on several rare occasions wistfully funny--but primarily it is an exploration of loss, guilt, and dealing with the vagaries of life. This isn't a how-to manual, a therapy session or a book for people not conversant with disaster.

Instead, it is a frank memoir of a 60 something year old woman and her experience of life as a chasm opens and the bottom falls out of her world. On the whole a very personal and openly written book about growing, coping with change and learning to love what is. Learning to, as the author says, weave it all in and then learning how to keep on weaving it in.

Painful, poetic, insightful, sad, & eccentric are words that come to mind. Certainly not a book for everyone, but I thought it was excellent. Be warned this book discusses difficult and disturbing themes. That said--I'm still glad I listened.

A love story in the truest sense...

This profoundly beautiful story traces the changes in a middle-aged couple's lives after the husband sustains a traumatic brain injury... because he cannot remember his life before, his wife Abigail (author and narrator) reaches across and joins him in his new world. Following her husband's accident (he was tragically hit by a car while out walking the dog), Abigail begins to live alone with their dogs while her husband lives in an assisted living facility where she visits him frequently.

Rather than retrace the story from the point of the accident, the book meanders across time, events, and locations in a way that feels natural and sincere. The story's progression reminded me of how one's thoughts wander during the grieving process, and how a single seemingly unrelated thought will remind one of cherished memories of an event that occurred "before." This is a love story in the truest sense in the way that Abigail's life before is irretrievably lost: She must summon the strength both to rebuild her own life and to be a source of strength to her husband.

Although Abigail's tone is light and matter of fact during most of the book, there were passages I found so moving that I teared up. Having had a loved one who experienced traumatic brain injury, the conversations Abigail describes with her husband felt familiar, as did her kindness in not correcting her husband when he thought they were on vacation when just driving around town or any other number of ways. She showed her love by reaching across and allowing her husband to be who he'd become after the accident, rather than reminding him of what he (and she) had lost.

I found this book intensely moving. There is no "eureka" moment of enlightenment, but rather the day-to-day experience of accepting life and loved ones for what they are rather than what could be. Highly recommended.

A Dear Old Friend

Abigail became my dear old friend as I listened. She's honest,and a comfort to have around. She inspires me with her courage, purpose and passion. I'd like to meet her for breakfast this morning. So good to know that I've got a friend.

Sarah Borders..Blowing Rock, NC

Love down to Earth

I loved this memoir of love and loss. I loved the uncanny connections between the author and her dogs, the out of the blue conversations with her husband plus the outsider art she discovered while visiting her husband in the care facility. A relationship can be so simple, ordinary yet so deep.