Reading Guide

A Three Dog Life

by Abigail Thomas

Introduction
I am luckyI know what has changed, I know where I am. Richs compass is gone, he
has no direction home. In the aftermath of her husbands brain injury, Abigail Thomas
creates a memoir that captures not only the experience of watching a loved one slip into
an unreachable world, but also the courage it takes to face lifes darkest nights. For
Thomas, the darkest night occurred on April 24, 2000, when Rich was hit by a car near
their Manhattan apartment. His skull was shattered, his perception of time and reality
forever altered. Weaving together the fragmented, poignant images of their life before
and after the accident, A Three Dog Life traces the memories and friendships (both
human and canine) that have sustained Thomas in the wake of this daunting turning
point. In plainspoken yet powerful words, she brings us scenes of gentle beauty and
unflinching truth. By turns wise and wry, hers is a story that sparks dialogues about our
most essential concerns: love, loss, and the fragile dance in between. The questions that
follow are designed to enhance your discussion of A Three Dog Life. We hope they will
enrich your experience of this mesmerizing memoir.

Questions and Topics for Discussion
1. Discuss the books title and epigraph in the context of your own life. What is the
coldest night you have survived? What dogs helped you through it?

2. Throughout her memoir, Abigail Thomas describes the bittersweet experience of
hearing her husband articulate echoes of their life together, although he is fundamentally
changed, sometimes even angry and paranoid, as a result of his traumatic brain injury.
What unique challenges does one face when watching a loved one slip into an altered
state of mind due to injury or illness? How must the grieving process change as well?

3. Thomas tells us that she and Rich fell in love fast, becoming engaged within two
weeks after they met. What aspects of their life together demonstrated a deep level of
compatibility? By contrast, how did they address the sometimes tremendous differences
between their habits and personalities? How did Richs injury shape the nature of their
marriage?

4. Thomas makes a distinction between having phobias and being a fearful person. How
would you characterize her version of courage? In what way do specific fears (such as
her dread of being alone in an elevator) help us understand our greatest vulnerabilities?

5. Harry is the first dog Thomas introduces us to in the book. He was present at the time
of Richs accident and provided immediate comfort to Thomas in the days that followed.
Why are some of us drawn to having pets, while others cant relate to this urge? What
distinguishes the loyalty and affection of an animal from that of another human being?

6. In A Three Dog Life Thomas conveys both the stress of coping with an uncertain future
and the guilt she often experienced while navigating her husbands care. Discuss the
various kinds of advice she received throughout Richs ordeal. Ultimately, what were the
best forms of solace and relief?

7. Thomas describes Rosie as a dachshund-whippet mix born from a union that must
have come with an instruction sheet, while the sometimes-in-heat hound, Carolina
Bones, was gangly and goofy, with a lugubrious expression that gave her a kind of
ridiculous dignity. How do Harry, Rosie, and Carolina complement each other? What
specific types of consolation is each dog able to give Thomas?

8. How does Thomas approach the subject of memory? What characterizes her own
recollections, from her earliest days with her parents to more recent memories? What was
Rich able to recall after his accident? What does his injury teach Thomas about the
tandem between the mind and memory?

9. In Outsider Art, Thomas describes her growing obsession with various visual artists.
What do her chosen artists indicate about the way she sees the world in general? What
parallels exist between her art collection and the way A Three Dog Life is crafted? How is
her treatment of time and imagery different from that of other authors?

10. Like the vignettes that form this memoir, the chapter titles reflect simplicity,
precision, and candor. Read together, what essential aspects of life are summarized in
Thomass chapter titles, ranging from How to Break Up a Dogfight to The
Magnificent Frigate Bird to Home?

11. How did you react to Thomass recollections of Richs premonitory abilities,
including his haunting references to the long-lost relative Edward Butterman? Have you
ever had similar experiences? How can they be explained (or should we even try)?

12. What notions of motherhood are prominent in A Three Dog Life? What significant
observations are captured in the story of Crystal, and its placement in the chapter called
NO?

13. How do Thomass descriptions of the city compare to those of her life in the country?
What is resolved by her relinquishment of the apartment where she had lived for so many
years? In your life, what homes reflect your most significant chapters?

14. Discuss the books closing lines, which follow a return to the night of Richs
accident. What beauty exists in his ability to forget, and to experience their life as so
easy that the days glide by? In what way are we both enriched and burdened by the
ability to remember?

15. Thomass previous memoir, Safekeeping, was written before Richs accident and
contains tributes to the newfound joy she experienced when he became part of her life.
Read together, what complete story do these two books tell? What storytelling traits
distinguish Thomass works, both fiction and nonfiction?

16. Thomas is an acclaimed writing instructor, often saying that her own impulse to write
helps her process powerful life experiences. If you were to write a memoir, which years
or events would you want to focus on? What people, pets, or places would figure most
prominently?

Coast-to-Coast Praise for A Three Dog Life:

Named a Best Book of 2006 by the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post Book
World

The best memoir I have ever read. This book is a punch to the heart. Read it.Stephen
King

The startling power and beauty of Abigail Thomass memoir comes not only from her
acute perceptions of a man without memories and her fear of losing her husband but from
her refusal to surrender the shards of a loving relationship.O, The Oprah Magazine


Spellbinding . . . A memorable account of how tragic loss can lead to ineffable moments
of surpassing love and miraculous change.Elle

This haunting memoir . . . wields enormous impact.People

[Thomas discovers] that friends, family, and dogs, as well as the power of writing, can
reshape a life of chaos into one that, while wrenchingly sad, makes sensea life full of
its own richness and beauty.Vanity Fair

From the depths of catastrophe, [Thomas] has crafted a painfully honest and loving
portrait of the irrevocably altered life she finds herself leading.The Washington Post

Thomas writes honestly and straight from the heart. There's no happy ending, but A
Three Dog Life offers hope that life can retain its richness after a tragedy.USA Today

This is writing that is truer to the way the human mind works and lives and organizes
material than writing that is organized by principles like past and future; before and after;
happy and unhappy; right and wrong.Los Angeles Times Book Review

Its neither a downer nor a smug testimonial to the triumphant human spirit, just the
perfectly honed observations of a clear-eyedand wittywriter.Newsweek

Abigail Thomass many gifts as a writer and deeply generous person show us what is
possible when two brave people examine a reconfigured lifeone that conjures the
uncanny, spotlights the power of art, and amplifies the meaning and reach of love.
Amy Hempel

About the Author
ABIGAIL THOMAS is the author of Safekeeping, a memoir, as well as a novel and two
story collections. For nearly twenty years she was married to journalist Richard Rogin,
who died in 2007. Thomas lives in Woodstock, New York, and teaches at the New
School.

Copyright 2007 Harcourt
Discussion questions written by Amy Root