Katie Up and Down the Hall—A book review

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Katie Up and Down the Hall—A book review   “The true story of how one dog turned
five neighbors into a family”

The construction of the World Trade Center in the late 1960’s produced a massive amount of dirt from the excavation. This dirt was used as landfill to create a 92-acre community called Battery Park City at the southern tip of Manhattan.

This “city built on water” is the setting for Katie Up and Down the Hall. After the author, Glenn Plaskin, moved from his dark, cramped New York apartment to this scenic community with a view of the Statue of Liberty and boats sailing on the water, he launched into another of his life goals: Get a dog.

The dog turned out to be a blonde Cocker Spaniel, the runt of the litter. Like many ROL’s, Katie turned out to be the smartest and the most adventurous, quickly adapting to urban life.

Glenn Plaskin is a best selling author known for in-depth interviews with celebrities. (Real celebrities, ones I’ve heard of) Kathryn Hepburn (Katie’s namesake), Bette Midler, Peter Jennings and Farrah Fawcett among others are enchanted by Katie as she accompanies her owner on interviews.

During the next years Katie has a profound effect on the lives of the author and three generations of neighbors as she moves up and down the hallway between the apartments, drawing them together into a loving family.

But nothing ever stays the same. The author finds himself unemployed when his paper is sold. He experiences severe health problems. People move on. People die.

On September 11, 2001 his idyllic little city is turned into a war torn crime scene. From that time on nothing was ever the same for any one.

While it may be tempting to dwell on losses, he writes,

After a few months I concentrated less on what I had lost, less on the past, and more on appreciating the gift that had been given to me.

I saw that what I had experienced was the abiding love of family—in the form that I had found it—a singularly happy living situation that could not last forever—but one that lives always within surviving family members.

Platkin is a master storyteller who will delight not just dog lovers but anyone who understands the love of family. Katie shows how a dog can change the lives of everyone around her.

One of the perks of this blog is that I get review copies of books, often before they are released.Katie Up and Down the Hall has just been released and is available from Amazon. See sidebar.

Posted by Jan on September 12, 2010 | Permalink

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Comments

That sounds like a great story -

BTW, THAT is the kind of khanine Mom grew up wanting to get one day -

Snikhkering...instead she got ME!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

Posted by:Khyra |September 12, 2010 at 10:05 AM

is this book going to make me cry?..u know I cry at Dr Pepper commercials..so let me know if this is going to be a weeper.

Posted by:jackie |September 12, 2010 at 10:20 AM

Unfortunately dogs have a limited lifespan. To be honest I always skip over any part of the book where the dog dies and go right to the end where I know i'll feel inspired by what the dog has meant to the lives of the human.

Posted by:Jan |September 12, 2010 at 11:21 AM

I love how you skip over the part where the dog dies...I do the same! I also skip parts of books where the hero or heroine does something extremely stupid...I can't handle reading that, either, haha.

This book sounds really good, though...I have placed it on my list of books to buy for winter time reading..

Posted by:Marion |September 13, 2010 at 07:33 AM

I'm still trying to get over Old Yeller.

Posted by:cube |September 13, 2010 at 12:01 PM

What a pretty face Miss Katie has. Thank you for this review. I am adding it to my book list.

Posted by:Col |September 16, 2010 at 03:58 PM

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