The Dogs Who Found Me - author event 3-15

writer and dog lover KEN FOSTER
reading & book signing for "The Dogs Who Found Me: What I've Learned
from Pets Who Were Left Behind"
Wednesday, March 15th at 7 pm
at The Booksmith (1644 Haight Street in San Francisco)

Disaster-prone writer and reluctant dog rescuer Ken Foster finds
himself centered by the presence of an ever-growing collection of stray
dogs. In this memoir-cum-guidebook, Foster describes the dogs who found
him, from a beagle abandoned in a New York City dog run to a pit bull
in a Mississippi truck stop. Their circumstances offer a grounding
counterpoint to his own recent misfortunes: the shock of New York City
after 9/11, the deaths of two close friends, a near fatal heart
condition and the evacuation of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
He writes eloquently about the world of animal shelters, the nature of
compassion, and the empowering effect of rescuing--and being rescued.

Ken Foster is the author of "The Kind I'm Likely to Get," a New York
Times Notable Book, and the editor of two anthologies, including "Dog
Culture." His writing has appeared in the New York Times Book Review,
The Village Voice, McSweeney's and The Believer. He lives in New
Orleans, where he and his dogs survived Hurricane Katrina.

From Publishers Weekly
After Foster adopts his first dog, Brando, from a shelter, he can't
help noticing an alarming number of stray dogs, which he had never
noticed before. Once he starts looking for them, he finds strays
everywhe on the side of the road, at the dog park, at gas stations
and stuck in drainage grates. But this book isn't about Foster as much
as it's about his dogs, who help him through 9/11 (he lived in
Manhattan then), a heart condition that lands him in the hospital and
the deaths of two good friends. Foster's relationships with the three
dogs in his life aren't a one-way street, though: when one dog gets a
urinary infection every time Foster leaves, Foster realizes she "was
trying to hold everything in until I returned." As if channeling the
frank and fundamental nature of dogs, Foster's sentences hide little
pretense or poetry. It's an appropriate writing style that lets Foster
present his joys and sorrows plainly. Interspersing vignettes on topics
such as missing dog posters, shelters, heartworms and understanding
dogs' body language, Foster fleshes out this charming account of a life
among dogs while providing hints for would-be dog savers.

Booksmith author events are free and located at our San Francisco store
(1644 Haight Street in San Francisco, between Clayton & Cole), unless
otherwise noted. For further information, call 415-863-8688 or visit
www.booksmith.com If you cannot attend an event and would like to order
a signed copy of a book by an author included in our events calendar,
please email or call our store.