Out on a Leash
How Terry's Death Gave Me New Life
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- ¥1,700
発行者による作品情報
From internationally bestselling author, beloved actress, and “one-of-a-kind wit” (Vanity Fair) Shirley MacLaine comes a brilliant, fun-loving, and inspiring story of unconditional love.
Shirley MacLaine found perfect love—in the furry bundle of irresistible canine charms that was Terry. With her winning terrier ways and an endless wellspring of absolute love, Terry succeeded in doing what no one before her ever had: slowing Shirley’s nomadic lifestyle and leading her home.
Some of Shirley’s greatest pleasures included being with Terry on her New Mexico ranch or on a New York street, romping on the beach together, or sharing a long plane ride to a new location for making a film. With Terry by her side, Shirley was able to see the world in new ways she never thought possible.
In this utterly charming book, told in both Shirley and Terry’s voices, Shirley explores how her beloved Terry provided a window for exploring the true nature of love and how to truly and fully live in the moment. Updated with a brand new ending, the book relates in deeply moving language Terry’s last days, and the joy Shirley felt when her bond with Terry proved unbreakable and Terry contacts her from the other side.
A unique, witty, and ultimately wise memoir by one of the truly remarkable women of our time, Out on a Leash is the perfect gift for dog lovers and spiritual seekers everywhere.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The latest addition to actress MacLaine's New Age/autobiography oeuvre (Going Within; My Lucky Stars, etc.) is an excellent example of what can happen when a book exists because of its author's fame instead of her dedication to the craft of writing. Wandering, incoherent and self-congratulatory, MacLaine's 10th book will not earn her new fans. The book alternates between MacLaine's own voice and that of her dog, Terry, with whom the author communicates in"humanimal," which, she says, is a"purer, more direct form of language" than English. Her devotion to Terry is somewhat unnerving; she calls the pet her"heart" and her"new daughter"; later she explains"I know Terry senses my thoughts" and avers that Terry is"holy." MacLaine uses Terry's 'voice' to point out what a good actress"Mistress Mother" is, to reveal their past lives together in ancient Egypt, and to articulate the opinions that"we never die" and that"nothing is evil." In her own voice, MacLaine shares more of her belief system--an apparent combination of Nostradamus' predictions, Hopi and Mayan prophecies, Edgar Cayce's channelings, Egyptian mythology and the Bible. Along the way, we get brief glimpses of MacLaine's life that might have proved interesting if they had been developed (e.g.,"I missed a lot in my daughter's life but I did it to avoid imposing on her"), as well as her disconnected musings on nature, the Iraqi war ("I see signs that we are on the cusp of a new and devastating reality"), and dog and human sex. MacLaine's books have consistently sold well; no doubt those readers who enjoyed her previous volumes will find Terry's musings on life fascinating as well.
