Buy This Book: You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness by Julie Klam

As the proud owner of a brassy little Boston terrier (actually, make that "the not completely unwilling financeer of a completely self-actualized Boston terrier"), I couldn't resist Julie Klam's new book, You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness, fresh as a newly minted Milkbone in bookstores this week. The wonderfully funny author of Please Excuse My Daughter, a memoir of her privileged upbringing and stormy young adulthood, Klam scored a starred review from PW for this chronicle of her life with a succession of rescued Boston terriers. (Living with Manny the Uncanny has taught me why Bostons often need rescuing...from people who want to throttle them.) Actually, I should have started this with "As someone who loves a Boston terrier..." because that's ultimately what saves the day (and Manny's neck), in my office and in Julie Klam's book. These little guys with their futzy tuxedos and Jimmy Cagney mugs are completely incorrigible and utterly irresistible.

From the flap:

Julie Klam was thirty, single, and working as a part-time clerk in an insurance company, wondering if she would ever meet the man she could spend the rest of her life with. And then it happened. She met the irresistible Otto, her first in a long line of Boston terriers, and fell instantly in love. You Had Me at Woof is the often hilarious and always sincere story of how one woman discovered life's most important lessons from her relationships with her canine companions. From Otto, Julie realized what it might feel like to find "the one." She learned to share her home, her heart, and her limited resources with another, and she found an authentic friend in the process. But that was just the beginning. Over the years her brood has grown to one husband, one daughter, and several Boston terriers. And although she had much to learn about how to care for them--walks at 2 a.m., vet visits, behavior problems--she was surprised and delighted to find that her dogs had more wisdom to convey to her than she had ever dreamed. And caring for them has made her a better person-and completely and utterly opened her heart. Riotously funny and unexpectedly poignant, You Had Me at Woof recounts the hidden surprises, pleasures, and revelations of letting any mutt, beagle, terrier, or bulldog go charging through your world.

Visit Julie's website here and check out the star power in this fun book trailer...