J.D. Salinger, whose Catcher in the Rye helped create the boomer generation, once defined sentimentality as loving something more than God loves it. I think it’s often a good idea of pet owners to remind themselves of this dictum. That said, as a pet’s owner (really, I am more owned by my pet, a self-assured feline), I want to tout Kathryn Jean Lopez’s interview with Mark Levin about new his book, Rescuing Sprite:
“Sprite – whom the Levins had to have put to sleep only about a year ago, because of his age and severely declining health – left a legacy all right, thanks to the love of a grateful man with access to a publisher.
“Rescuing Sprite is both a testament to Mark’s bargaining skills and the depth of his ailing heart. The book is the honest and beautiful story of a man and his family and the dog they rescued – a dog who brought them great joy during his two years with them.
“His publisher wanted Mark, a successful nationally syndicated conservative radio talk-show host and lawyer, former Reagan Justice Department official, and NRO contributor, to do another book, a political book, a book more along the lines of his 2005 bestseller Men in Black, on judicial activism. Only if I can write about Sprite, he said. And so he did – his memorial is a hit in England, and soon to be published in Italy, Brazil, and the Czech Republic as well.
“And don’t let the fact that Mark’s a conservative keep you from picking up a copy of the book for your liberal brother. In Rescuing Sprite, Mark offers a gift that crosses party lines – a tribute to man’s best friend and an appreciation for the gift of unconditional love and protection of innocents.”