There were several moments when reading this book that I thought "Only a writer would find this all so delicious" because writing - the craft, the art, the science, the joy, the pain, the struggle - is so central to this story of a grieving writer/writing teacher mourning the loss of her friend, fellow writer and one-time mentor. I am a writer so yes, this book was a true self-indulgent, ridiculously privileged, often blinkered delight. Then, later, I had the thought: "Only a dog person would really like this book" because it is also a lot about dogs, and the human/canine relationship and yet, I am not a dog person, not really, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the sections exploring this. Drawing from literature, journalism, film and science, among many other realms, the story is told through small, sometimes fleeting even, snippets of information or accounts that make you think, and blink for a second before carrying on. There are a few playful twists, more than a handful of reasons to laugh, and yes a few to cry too, so I would certainly place this book in my top five of the year... but again, if books about privileged, white writers moaning about the struggles of writing are not your thing - stand back and ignore!