Larry levin author biography essay
Year of the Bookwormz: 2011
Oogy: The Dog Only A Family Could Love by
Larry Levin
Book description:
In 2002, Larry Levin and his twelve-year-old twin sons, Dan and Noah, brought their ailing cat into the neighborhood animal hospital to be put to sleep. What began as one of their family’s saddest days took a sharp turn for the better when the oddest-looking dog they’d ever seen bounded into the waiting room and into their arms.
Larry and the boys assumed that this white puppy had been in a fire- he was missing an ear and half his face was covered in scar tissue- but they were soon told a different story. He had been near-fatally injured as part of a dog-fighting ring in the area, discovered by the police, and left at the after-hours service of the hospital. When the hospital administrator found him in the morning, he was so bloodied and battered she knew he had a slim chance of survival. But, determined to keep him alive, she convinced her veterinarian boss to perform a series of surgeries and readied him for adoption.
The Levins- Larry, his wife Jennifer, and their sons- accepted him as one of their own from the moment they met him. As the rambunctious puppy matured into a loyal and protective member of the family (dubbed the “Third Twin”), he marked himself indelibly on their lives, healing long-held wounds and showing the twins, themselves adopted as infants, that unbreakable bonds can be formed in all kinds of families.
Oogy is about the power of redemption, and how animals and people can overcome the greatest of odds. And Oogy is an incredibly special animal, whose sense of security and being loved has persevered despite his trials. This one-in-a-million dog and his story will enter your heart and stay with you for a long time.
As is the case with most animal lovers, books like these are hard for me to get through for the sole reason of the fact that I don’t want to be sad. I hold a very special place in my
Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love
I finished this last night and I hope I get to meet Oogy someday. I'd get in my car and drive to the Levin's today if presented with the chance. He truly is remarkable. Oogy's story may be one of the rare ones but people should be aware there are others. If not in exactly the same situations. (Look up Firu on FaceBook for example.)
It scares me to think how much worse these animals would have it if it weren't for people like the Levins, the people who came into Oogy's life at the animal hospital, myself, other rescue workers, pet owners who go "above and beyond", etc. It's funny but we never look at it as "above and beyond" - it's just what people should do.
Oogy's story needed to be told. All of their stories need to be told. I had one main problem with the book and aside from that my comments will all be personal.
My main problem - Levin's writing. I've tried to not think too harshly because after all Levin isn't an author. (I find it kind of amusing that when I read the first few pages I immediately thought to myself that Levin had to be a journalist or a lawyer. He's a lawyer.)
But his writing is very.... detailed. Far too detailed. Far, far, far too detailed. Like, I don't care that he sleeps on the left side of his bed, or that he turns his doorknob to the right. I don't care that he sleeps using 3/4 of a blanket. I know he microwaves his coffee for 50 seconds. I don't want to know that. I don't want to know that much about my own kids life! Good God! It makes me wonder, since I know nothing about how publishing works, if maybe someone okay'd the book and gave him a minimum page count? But no, I think this is just him. Which is fine but it doesn't work extremely well in written f
Larry Levis
American poet and teacher
Larry Levis | |
|---|---|
| Born | Larry Patrick Levis (1946-09-30)September 30, 1946 Fresno, California |
| Died | May 8, 1996(1996-05-08) (aged 49) Richmond, Virginia |
| Occupation | Poet, teacher |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Fresno State College (BA, 1968); Syracuse University (MA,1970); University of Iowa (Ph.D, 1974) |
| Years active | 1972–1996 |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards | National Poetry Series, Lamont Poetry Selection |
| Spouse | Marcia Southwick |
| Children | Nicholas Levis |
Larry Patrick Levis (September 30, 1946 – May 8, 1996) was an American poet and teacher who published five books of poetry during his lifetime. Two more volumes of previously unpublished poems appeared posthumously, and received general acclaim.
Life and work
Youth
Larry Levis was born in Fresno, California in 1946. He was the fourth (and youngest) child born to William Kent Levis, a grape grower, and Carol Mayo Levis.
”The young Levis grew up driving a tractor, picking grapes, and pruning vines in Selma, California, a small fruit-growing town in the San Joaquin Valley. He later wrote of the farms, the vineyards, and the Mexican migrant workers that he worked alongside. He also remembered hanging out in the local billiards parlor on Selma's East Front Street, across from the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks.”
Education
Levis earned a bachelor's degree from Fresno State College in 1968, where he had studied under Philip Levine. For Levine's classes and poetry workshops, Levis completed many of the poems that would appear in his first book of poems, Wrecking Crew (1972). Levine and Levis formed a lifelong friendship that left a mark on both their writing and their art. Each continued to exchang
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