Racing in the Rain (18 page)

Acknowledgments

T
hanks to the wonderful people at Harper Children's, especially Alyson Day and Phoebe Yeh; Jeff Kleinman and my fantastic team at Folio Literary Management; my resident experts and facilitators, including but not limited to Scott Driscoll, Jasen Emmons, Joe Fugere, Bob Harrison, Soyon Im, Doug Katz, David Katzenberg, Don Kitch Jr., Michael Lord, Layne Mayheu, Kevin O'Brien, Nick O'Connell, Luigi Orsenigo, Sandy and Steve Perlbinder, Jenn Risko, Bob Rogers, Paula Schaap, Jennie Shortridge, Marvin and Landa Stein, Dawn Stuart, Terry Tirrell, Brian Towey, Cassidy Turner, Andrea Vitalich, Kevin York, Lawrence Zola . . .

Caleb, Eamon, and Dashiell . . .

and the one who makes my world possible,

Drella.

About the Author

GARTH STEIN
is the author of three novels,
THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN, HOW EVAN BROKE HIS HEAD AND OTHER SECRETS,
and
RAVEN STOLE THE MOON
, and a play,
Brother Jones
. He has also worked as a documentary filmmaker and lives in Seattle with his family. You can visit him online at www.garthstein.com.

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EXTRAS

RACING
in the RAIN
MY LIFE AS A DOG

Read an interview with author Garth Stein

Check out cool photos of Garth racing,
his dog, Comet, and more!

Q&A with Garth Stein:

Q: Where did the idea for the book come from?

A: The first seed for this book was planted in my mind about ten years ago. I was no longer working in documentary films, but a friend asked me to help with the U.S. distribution of a film he knew about from Mongolia called
State of Dogs
. I didn't end up getting involved with the film, but the idea really stuck with me. In Mongolia, there is a belief that the next life for a dog is as a man. I thought this was a cool concept and I tucked it away, thinking I might someday do something with it.

Q: What challenges did you face as you were writing from a dog's point of view?

A: Enzo, as a dog, has certain limitations: he has no thumbs, for instance; he has a long, floppy tongue that can't be used to form words. But Enzo, as a dog, also has certain advantages: people will say things in front him because it is assumed he doesn't understand. People will allow him to see some things for the same reason—Enzo is a fly on the wall. I had a great deal of fun playing with this idea.

Q: Is there any significance to the name Enzo?

A: Yes! Denny's dog, Enzo, is named after Enzo Ferrari, who built one of the greatest car trademarks in the world. Ferrari automobiles are famous everywhere. And Ferrari is a serious player in the world of Formula 1 racing.

But I have a funny story about how I arrived at Enzo's name. . . .

When I first started writing this novel, Enzo was not named Enzo. He was named Juan Pablo, after Juan Pablo Montoya, the race car driver. When my wife read the first few pages, she said that she loved what I was writing, but the name of the dog wasn't quite right.

“How about Enzo?” she asked. We had two sons already, and were expecting our third. I had always wanted to name one of my boys Enzo. I thought it was the ultimate cool name: Enzo Stein. But my wife very much disagreed. “We have a lot of different nationalities in our combined backgrounds,” she reasoned. “Russian, German, Austrian, Tlingit Indian, Irish, English . . . but we have no Italian.”

“But then we won't be able to name the baby Enzo,” I said.

“I thought of that,” she said, nodding slowly.

“I really wanted to name him Enzo,” I said.

“Enzo, the dog, is your new baby,” she replied. “And when our new baby comes, we'll find the right name for him.”

(For those of you who are interested: We named our son Dashiell.)

Q: Are you a dog owner yourself? Who is
your
Enzo?

A: Yes, I have a dog named Comet, who is a Lab/poodle mix. But she's no Enzo. She's a little too silly and sweet. Let me put it to you this way: she has a few more lifetimes to live as a dog before she's ready to return as a person. Unless you could guarantee that she could come back as a ball girl at Wimbledon. She's awesome with a tennis ball!

Q: There are some very sad moments in the book, as Denny loses his wife and then his daughter. How did those difficult events contribute to Denny's development as a character? How did they contribute to Enzo?

A: A character is tested when he or she is truly pushed to the brink. The way the story is set up, we know that it is not about Denny trying his hardest and then accepting defeat. This is a story that will test Denny's inner strength. Because of their relationship, it is only appropriate that, at some point, Denny must rely on his greatest ally, Enzo, given the feelings that they have for each other.

Q: Enzo's lap around the track at Thunderhill Raceway Park with Denny is definitely one of the most joyous and truthful passages we have ever read. The beauty of life is really captured in that last turn around the track. What was your inspiration for that scene?

A: When I wrote that scene, I was totally engaged in the writing process. I knew I had to get Enzo into a race car, and then I let him do the writing. You know, having raced cars myself, I will say that, when screaming down a straight and flying through some turns, even the most serious person is little more than a happy dog, his head out the window, hoping for the moment to last a little longer.

Q: Can you elaborate on the art of racing in the rain? Is it the ability to anticipate the next move or the ability to trust oneself to make the next move without anticipation?

A: Well, yes and yes. It's also about letting go of self-doubt and insecurity. Once a good rain racer commits to a decision, he follows it to completion because he knows that certain things must play out. If we are acting entirely with our best interests in mind—not the best interests of our ego, but the best interests of our soul—we are acting properly.

I have to refer back to the epigraph: “With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high.” That was said by Aryton Senna, who was arguably the best rain racer ever. I think he's talking about this idea: there is no limit to what we can accomplish if we believe in ourselves completely.

Q:
the art of racing in the rain
is dedicated to your childhood dog, Muggs. I know you have told the story of the Muggs dedication and your father's reaction to it before, but could I ask you to tell it one more time here? It's a wonderful story.

A: My family's childhood dog was an Airedale named Muggs. She was a sweet, lovable, proud dog. And she got old. When I was a teenager, one day my father came home from work early. He was wearing his suit, and it seemed odd to see him in the day at home in a suit. He put Muggs in the car and took her away. He came back without her. (She was quite old, her hips had given way, and she wasn't doing well. . . .)

When he came back, he took all of her things out of the place we kept them in her cabinet. Her bowls, her food, her leashes, her collar. He put them in a garbage bag, tied it up, and placed it outside by the garbage cans. That was it. He never said a word about it, and no one in our house spoke of it.

When I finished my book, I wanted to dedicate it to someone, but I didn't know who. So I dedicated it to Muggs, knowing that I was really dedicating it to my father by doing that.

The book was ready, I got my first copy from HarperCollins, and I proudly showed my parents, forgetting for a moment that I had dedicated it to Muggs. My father opened the book, saw the dedication page . . . and started crying.

So he knew. Parents know stuff like that. He knew I meant it was for him.

Check out cool photos of Garth racing, his dog, Comet, and more!

Garth and his dog, Comet, at the beach

Comet relaxing at home

Garth's studio

Garth and Comet at New Year's

At the 2008 Mazda MX-5 Cup with a new fan

Garth at a reading

Garth and Comet playing around

With friend and producer Johan Lindgren and Comet