Bookworm
Susan Orlean: Rin Tin Tin-The Life and the Legend
Susan Orlean on her moving account of how an orphaned puppy from France became a Hollywood movie star and a beloved canine icon.
By Michael Silverblatt • • 28m Listen: The Life and The Legend
(Simon and Schuster)
New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean spends years researching a subject. Then she sits down to write a story that makes sense of what she's learned from immersing herself in her material. Here, she starts with dog-breeding in 19th Century Europe. A German Shepherd puppy born on a World War I battlefield becomes Rin Tin Tin, an international star. She writes with tenderness about the dreamers and grifters she discovers on the dog's journey.
