Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley (Epub)

Description

Ted—a gay, single, struggling writer is stuck: unable to open himself up to intimacy except through the steadfast companionship of Lily, his elderly dachshund. When Lily’s health is compromised, Ted vows to save her by any means necessary. By turns hilarious and poignant, an adventure with spins into magic realism and beautifully evoked truths of loss and longing, Lily and the Octopus reminds us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go, and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all.

Introducing a dazzling and completely original new voice in fiction and an unforgettable hound that will break your heart—and put it back together again. Remember the last book you told someone they had to read? Lily and the Octopus is the next one. “Startlingly imaginative…this love story is sure to assert its place in the canine lit pack…Be prepared for outright laughs and searing or silly moments of canine and human recognition. And grab a tissue: “THERE! WILL! BE! EYE! RAIN!” (New York Newsday).

User’s Reviews

Review NATIONAL BESTSELLER “Lily and the Octopus is the dog book you must read this summer…. Reading this heart-wrenching but ultimately breathtaking novel was a very profound experience…. As Lily might say, ‘YOU! MUST! READ! THIS! BOOK!’” —The Washington Post “Startlingly imaginative…‘Lily and the Octopus’ is a love story sure to assert its place in the canine lit pack…Be prepared for outright laughs and searing or silly moments of canine and human recognition. And grab a tissue: THERE! WILL! BE! EYE! RAIN!” —Newsday “Sensitive, hilarious, and emotionally rewarding…. The intimacy of pet ownership is sweetly suffused throughout this heartwarming autobiographical fiction… In generous helpings of bittersweet humanity, Rowley has written an immensely poignant and touchingly relatable tale that readers (particularly animal lovers) will love.” —Publishers Weekly “Steven Rowley’s touching, fresh, energetic novel isn’t simply another ‘boy and his dog’ story. It is a profound exploration of grief—how we find ourselves lost, how we search for reason, how we sacrifice ourselves for our loved ones, all to avoid paying the octopus. But the octopus will be paid. And in settling that debt, in the magical, hopeful world of Lily and the Octopus, we will learn to live—and love—again. A wonderfully moving story.” —Garth Stein, bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain “An exceedingly authentic, keenly insightful, and heartbreakingly poignant tribute to the purity of love between a pet and its human.” —Booklist (starred review) “A quirky and deeply affecting charmer of a novel, Lily and the Octopus is funny, wise, and utterly original in its exploration of what it means to love any mortal creature. This brave little dachshund will capture your heart, as will her prickly, tenderhearted, and irresistible owner. Don’t miss their adventures together.” —Sara Gruen, bestselling author of Water for Elephants “Singular, spectacular, and touchingly tentacular.” —Chris Cleave, bestselling author of Little Bee “You will tear through this big-hearted, inventive novel. A fast and funny read that also happens to be a profound meditation on love and forgiveness, Lily and the Octopus is a delight.” —Christina Baker Kline, bestselling author of Orphan Train “Intelligently written, finely observed, and surprisingly moving, this is a book you’ll find hard to put down.” —Graeme Simsion, bestselling author of The Rosie Project “A whimsical, touching tale” —People “My favorite book of the year: Steven Rowley’s Lily and the Octopus. Hilarious, heartbreaking. You will absolutely cry and you will love it.” —Patrick Ness, bestselling author of The Rest of Us Just Live Here “You don’t need to be a dog lover to enjoy Steven Rowley’s new book, ‘Lily and the Octopus,’ but if you’ve realized you like your dog more than most humans you encounter, this is one you won’t want to miss.” —Newport Beach Independent “In his funny, ardent and staunchly kooky way, Rowley expresses exactly what it’s like to love a dog.” —Kirkus Reviews “Rowley shares a moving, profound tale of grappling with loss.” —Real Simple “It is a joyful book; it is also a sincerely written tragedy that invoked the purity of friendship between animal/human family members. It’s laughter through tears. Rowley has a sense of humor with just enough morbid sensibility to appeal to a wide audience (even if animal best friend books aren’t one’s thing). Yet, he navigates the five stages of grief and loss while inspiring others to appreciate the lives we already have.” —Edge Media “Portland’s Steven Rowley strikes a chord in a moving book about heartache and friendship that is expected to be a big seller this summer.” —Portland Press Herald “The connection between man and dog is loud and clear in this sweet novel…” —Fort Worth Star-Telegram “Author Steven Rowley uses humor and pop-culture references to tell a whimsical story of courage in the face of heartbreaking reality. Philosophical and introspective, “Lily and the Octopus” also looks at the transformative power of love, the importance of forgiveness and the beauty of really living, letting ourselves be seen instead of hiding in plain sight…I laughed, I sobbed, and at the end, I felt as if I’d caught up with a friend over coffee.” —The Free Lance-Star

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Listen, everyone. Stop whatever it is you’re doing and read this book. Since I started Lily and the Octopus, a few strange things have happened: 1) My dog has started talking to me, 2) I have laughed like a maniac in public while tapping at my Kindle to turn pages faster, and 3) I have become FAR more emotional in public than I am comfortable with.You do not need to be a dog lover to appreciate this book. You just have to be, you know, not an insensitive a-hole. And even if you are, this might be your weakness (just don’t read it in public).I highly recommend this to everyone. It will knock your socks off.

⭐ I had just finished reading “A Dog’s Purpose,” which is a marvelous, funny, sad, and insightful book into how a dog views the world, and how that makes them such wonderful companions. The oft-used cliche that a “dog will give you unconditional love” is brought forward in a unique and marvelous manner in that book. So I thought this book might be at least somewhat similar – a good book, albeit sad – about a dog and her owner. I’m sorry, but I just can’t agree with all of the marvelous reviews. That doesn’t mean this is not a good book – it only means it didn’t hit the mark for me. I found the dog’s owner tedious, neurotic, and somewhat self-centered. His projecting a personality into Lily (i.e. playing Monopoly with her) was uninteresting, the dialogue did not grab me and, well, all I can say is I’m sure many others enjoyed the book. I’d highly recommend downloading a sample before buying and see if it’s right for you.

⭐ A little over a year ago, I lost my sweet dog to cancer. Roxie was only 5 years when she passed away, having been diagnosed at age 4. That’s way too young to lose a special member of your family. I still grieve for her and miss her every day. She was adopted at one year of age, so she was really only in my life for four short years. During those years, though, she wormed her way into my home and heart. She acted as my protector the few couple of years and then, in turn, I acted as her protector for the last couple, watching her grow weaker and weaker, but still striving to be the strong dog she always was. So when I heard about LILY AND THE OCTOPUS, I had to pick it up. Lily was the author’s pup of 12 years; the Octopus was the cancerous tumor that grew on her head.If you’ve ever had a sick dog — heck, if you’ve ever been lucky enough to have been loved by a dog — this book is for you. WARNING: this book will make you cry. It may not make you sob uncontrollably like it did for me, but it should create some semblance of “eye rain” (the author’s terminology), unless you have a heart like the Grinch’s. Reading the author’s heartache was cathartic and made me remember Roxie fondly. I knew exactly what he was going through.The book is semi-autobiographical, but it’s a work of fiction, nonetheless. It’s told from the narrator’s point of view (a gay man), who also happens to have conversations with his dog, Lily, and then the Octopus as well. It sounds a bit strange, but it really works. In fact, when I read the dialogue, I felt like I could hear Lily’s sometimes super excited/sometimes mellow voice, and the Octopus’ snide, callous voice.”Dogs have pure souls… Dogs are always good and full of selfless love. They are undiluted vessels of joy who never, ever deserve anything bad that happens to them. Especially you. Since the day I met you, you have done nothing but make my life better in every possible way.” This was the author’s response to Lily in response to her inquiry if Karma was reason she had the octopus. Again, eye rain.The book was very well-written and provided a quick read from chapter to chapter. Besides a tribute to a fantastic dog, the book is also about aging, the aging of our loved ones and ourselves, and coming to terms with both. “I see a younger version of myself at each and it’s all I can do not to wave; I wonder what my younger selves would think of me now, if they would recognize me or even care to wave back.” That’s a very powerful observation and felt so true.I emphatically loved this book like Lily loved her red ball, and I hope you will, too.

⭐ I read all the reviews from the trades, and and I really wanted to love this book as a dog owner, and pet lover myself. In the end I really had to struggle to finish it (I paid real money so I was very determined). The dog owner/author (as this is clearly autobiographical) is pretty stingy with emotional exploration – spending way too much time on the ludicrous “hunt” for the octopus, his metaphorical name for the dog’s tumor. He wants to be the hero in The Life of Pi, but he’s barely a player in his own life. There’s not much depth to the relationship with the dog — it’s all saying, and no feeling. In the end – exactly one month after Lily dies, he meets a new fella (human) whom he paints as having a dog-like excitement at being alive. Ack.

⭐ Lily is a 12 year old dachshund, with a tumor on her head. Her owner, Ted, refuses to recognize the tumor and refers to it as an octopus instead. Clearly, denial is heavy throughout the book.Ted has fun and loving conversations with Lily, capturing her excitement and joy in everyday things. He has angry, dark conversations with the octopus mostly telling him to be gone. He is furious at the octopus and “would pull the walls of this house down on top of him if he weren’t attached to the fragile skull of my deepest love.”The book is beautifully written, and even during the odd fantasy scenes, such as a sea voyage to find and kill the octopus, the emotional depth is startling.The ending was heartbreaking. Ted acknowledges for the first time that she has a tumor and that “the body drawing shallow breath beside me is only the shell of my beloved dog. That in almost all respects, she is already gone.” It made me sob as I thought of my beloved dogs, Bandit, who died of liver cancer, and Lucky who died of old age. I challenge anyone to read this without crying.

⭐ I dabbled between four and five stars for various reasons.First, It is an easy read. I read it in a couple of hours no problem.Second, I get it. I have lost quite a few pets over the years. I am only in my late 20’s but we had many pets growing up. Most pet deaths are hard, but some are the most difficult things you will face. I lost my dog in 2016 after a year long battle with heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. Fed him the best freeze-dried raw food, he received the best vet care holistic and conventional, and was loved dearly. He was only 7 and was adopted from an abusive home when he was 11 months old. Sometimes there just is not anything you can do to prevent a cruel end. I have lost many human friends but my dogs death really struck me with intense grief. I struggled for months to cope after he passed. This was my pet soul mate and my husband struggled in the same way. We tried everything we could. For those that can’t relate, parts of this story may not fully be grasped. You can maybe feel bad without empathizing.This book had me laughing and crying, sometimes at the same time. Right before the very last chapter I had “eye rain” to the point I had to put it down because I couldn’t see.The reason why I “almost” gave it four stars was because the plot was hard to follow at certain points, but if you put the book down when he is off at sea, you just won’t get it. For a page or two I was thinking “why the F**k would he take his dying dog out to see”… then I embarrassingly caught on. I 100 percent understand why that was put in… maybe dragged on a little. But if I could have gone out to sea and battled my dogs illness side by side claiming victory in the end, I would have given almost anything in the world to do just that. At some point, after all resources have been exhausted, you just have to simply surrender and enjoy whatever time is left. Love them and make whatever memories you can.Sure, the character is a little irritating at times but death is a hard thing for some to face. I know many people who are very much in denial when the end comes for a loved one. I did not take the octopus as straight up denial. He clearly accepted that even the octopus could be the end of his dog but in a sense he was willing to do almost anything to defeat what was killing his dog… even purchasing inflatable sharks. :)I thought the ending was beautiful. To be honest, I was very pleased with how uplifting it was. Serves as a wonderful reminder that I constantly told myself after my dog passed. They would not want us to suffer or grieve past what was helpful for us (I do believe grieving is healthy and important). Dogs live in the moment, and being human is complicated (darn emotions). We have four other dogs and as one approaches 11 I know the time will come again… eventually for all. Hopefully peacefully, but sometimes the octopus is unavoidable no matter how hard we try. As with anyone close to you animal or human: forgive (yourself or another). Have gratitude for the time you have. Love them with all you’ve got and just do the best you can. Pets can teach us so much about unconditional love.I love that Lily’s legacy lives on.

⭐ This is an incredible piece of writing. Of FEELING, emoting, expressing, sharing, laying ones heart on the table, offering it up. Oh my! I immediately fell in love with Lily of course, but also with Ted. Numerous times I was in touch with how stressed I was feeling over the impending next page, next event, and then…. and then. I read the book in two sittings, however had to take several breaks during each reading as I was crying too hard to see the page. PLEASE do not let that deter you from reading it! Oh no. It’s so, so, so beautiful, so beautifully told, and your heart will be so much bigger for having loved Lily right along with Ted, and for having loved Ted. How I wish he was my friend!Also, numerous times while reading (and sometimes while crying) I had to get up and go to my 14 year old Pea, my darling girl, and tell her how much I love her. Too, I reflected on what kind of mama I am. This is ALL good. ALL. And I realized at some point though cry as I often did, the overall expression on my face while reading was a big smile. I was enjoying these two so very much. I knew Ted wouldn’t leave me on a low note, and he certainly didn’t. I HIGHLY recommend this book – oh you’ll fall in love too!And dear Mr. Rowley – I understand this is your first book. Please, please don’t let it be your last. Thank you, thank you, thank you, and much love to you and your Mr. Lane.

⭐ Ted is a lonely gay man who loves his dachshund, Lily, and is bereft over the fact she has a tumor (“the octopus”) on her head and is dying from it. He resists this reality until finally he’s ready to let her go. This is the progression of the story. It’s a metaphor for his own life, for the fact that he has shut himself off from true engagement from the world. He was in a long-term relationship that died, and a big part of the reason was his being distant from his partner. So I can see this being a story not about a dog, but about a man’s approach to life.I’m sorry to say I didn’t enjoy this novel that much. Ted’s obsession with his dog – it’s too much. I mean, true, the whole point was that he was pouring all his love into Lily because he wasn’t ready for a solid relationship with a human, but still. And the magical realism, the way he talks to the octopus, borders on mental illness, beyond extreme toxic loneliness. It’s really quite depressing.I loved Rowley’s The Gunkle and The Editor. They were just fabulous. If I’d read Lily first, I wouldn’t have tried them. The Gunkle is one of the funniest, best books I’ve ever read, and The Editor made me cry better than Lily. Rowley is a talented author and I’ll definitely check out whatever else he writes.

⭐ I loved it and I hated it. I hated that it brought out such raw emotions in me that I upset my own dog.I’m extremely sensitive to all things animal, whether it’s a happy story or a sad story.I had a hard time putting this book down. It was magical and beautiful and frightening and sad all at the same time. Since finishing the book, scenes and thoughts from it have frequently come back to me. In my mind, that’s the sign of something really good. Definitely worth reading.

⭐ By a very unfortunate coincidence, I’ve just read this as my eldest dog is dying. Which is to say, I’m not entirely sure that now is the best time to tackle a work like Lily and the Octopus, but I did it anyway.The relationship between Lily and Ted is charming, and it feels true. Lily is like so many pups I’ve known: she is a good dog, the best dog, a best friend, a constant, unquestioning companion. The conversations between the two are irresistible. (Fluffy and often treacly, but if you can get past that, they’re irresistible.)Without giving anything away, I can also say that the boat scenes are pretty inspired. For me, those chapters are the most memorable, powerful parts of the entire novel.However, the character of Ted—on his own, apart from Lily—is far, far less memorable. He’s like countless other romance-seeking men you and I know: a dating-app scroller who doesn’t seem mature enough to commit to anyone (other than Lily, of course). If he didn’t mention that he’s in his 40s, you could easily assume that he’s half that age. A little vapid, insipid, and weightless is what I’m saying.And as a result, the end of the novel feels very, very unsatisfying.But getting to that point, that final page, I found myself laughing out loud and bawling on the sofa. So, Lily and the Octopus may not be perfect, but any author who can evoke those emotions seems like someone to watch.

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