DOGLAND swag and how to get it

Cool (and free) DOGLAND merch, plus my weekly shareables: the riches of Formula One, the revolution in cystic fibrosis, and the tears of the Kelce boys

If nothing else comes of this book, at least we have made some great swag. Behold the DOGLAND dog bandana, fit for dogs of all shapes, sizes and pedigrees. Or lack of pedigrees.

Here is one being worn by our friends’ dog Jake, who clearly has done some modeling.

GOOD BOY.

I wish I could give a bandana to every one of you who has put up with me yammering about DOGLAND for what must seem like 17 years now. But we have, as they say, extremely limited quantities. So here’s what we’re going to do.

If you preorder DOGLAND and fill out this form, you’ll be entered into a drawing for one of 25 packages that include a bandana AND a bookplate signed by me. (A bookplate is a label you can paste into your book in case you don’t get a chance to have your book signed some other way.)

This drawing is available to all new preorders as well as everybody who has already preordered—you just have to upload a screenshot of your receipt. Those of you who are doing preorders through Park Road Books won’t need a bookplate because I’ll sign and inscribe your books. But feel free to preorder from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Bookshop, Books-a-Million, or your local indie store. Whatever works best for you.

One more time with that link:

Two other quick book-related things:

—DOGLAND made Town & Country magazine’s list of this spring’s must-read books!

—If you’re in the Charlotte area, don’t forget to get free tickets to my book launch event at the ImaginOn library on April 23. We have locked in a couple of other tour dates and will announce more when we have a batch ready to release.

Thank you once again for sticking with me through these days and weeks leading up to publication day. I’m sure some of you who subscribe to this newsletter are not dog lovers. I just want to mention here that I think this book has something for you, too.

I was talking to a class at UNC Chapel Hill a couple of weeks ago and I mentioned how all meaningful stories work on two levels. The top level is what we normally call the plot—in this case, the journey of a top show dog through the Westminster Dog Show, and the story of the bond between dogs and their people.

But there’s also a deeper level, a subtext, something universal. In this book I think it’s about connection. It’s one of the most basic human needs, to connect with someone or something, whether it’s a lover or a friend or nature or art or … a dog. None of us belong alone. And maybe, by thinking about the connection between people and dogs, we come to understand our other connections in life a little better.

That’s what I aimed for in DOGLAND. Did I get there? You’ll have to read the book to find out. I hear it might even be available for preorder.

10 things I wanted to share this week:

1. My weekly for WFAE was about the death of a Charlotte politician who was one of an endangered species—the moderate Republican.

2. I’m not sure if you’re going to be able to read the next story I recommend. Writer Kate Wagner wrote a piece for Road & Track magazine on attending a Formula One race and being overwhelmed by the wealth she encountered. Road & Track published the story online, then pulled it an hour later, in what was likely a correct guess that the race teams and corporate sponsors might make the magazine’s life difficult in the future. The story told a little too much truth. Here’s an archived version, for now. Click while you can. It’s worth your time. (Wayback Machine)

3. I had no idea before I read Colin Ainsworth’s story that after Larry McMurtry died, his vast collection of books were bought by … Chip Gaines from the TV show FIXER UPPER. Here’s how that’s turning out. (Paris Review)

4. Another thing I didn’t know before I read Sarah Zhang’s story: There’s a new treatment for cystic fibrosis that has given many patients a chance to live normal lives. And now the question is: What do they do with the time they didn’t expect to have? (The Atlantic)

5. DOG NEWS: From now until DOGLAND comes out, I’m devoting this slot to dog stories. This week: Meet Aries, a very smart dog with excellent GPS. (USA Today)

6. Tom Hanks said there’s no crying in baseball, but there’s a lot of crying in football, especially if you’re one of the Kelce brothers. (NYT)

7. Speaking of football: My former Sports on Earth colleague Mike Tanier, one of the smartest NFL writers I know, has a new Substack called Too Deep Zone that is full of juicy pro football goodness.

8. Are you up for a last-second miracle basketball play? I’m always up for a last-second miracle basketball play! (Fast forward to about 45 seconds in.)
   

9. President Biden gets advice from his “contemporaries.” I kind of wish Harrison Ford had showed up in the middle randomly shouting “GET OFF MY PLANE!”
   

10. You’ll see more about this general topic in next week’s newsletter, but this week I went down a musical rabbit hole with Linda Martell, a black country singer in the ‘60s and ‘70s who is still alive today. She had a top-25 country hit with “Color Him Father” in 1969 … her next-biggest hit was “Bad Case of the Blues” in 1970. Here she is singing it on HEE HAW. She even yodels!

    Have a great week, everybody.