-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
by Martha Teichner
A memoir of love and loss, of being in the right place at the right time, and of the mysterious ways a beloved pet can bring people together, from CBS Sunday Morning News correspondent and multi-Emmy-Award-winning Martha Teichner.
There are true fairy tales. Stories that exist because impossible-to-explain coincidences change everything. Except in real life, not all of them have conventional, happily-ever-after endings. When Harry Met Minnie is that kind of fairy tale, with the vibrant, romantic New York City backdrop of its namesake, the movie When Harry Met Sally, and the bittersweet wisdom of Tuesdays with Morrie.
There's a special camaraderie among early-morning dog walkers. Gathering at dog runs in the park, or strolling through the farmer's market at Union Square before the bustling crowd appears, fellow pet owners become familiar–as do the personalities of their beloved animals. In this special space and time, a chance encounter with an old acquaintance changed Martha Teichner's world. As fate would have it, her friend knew someone who was dying of cancer, from exposure to toxins after 9/11, and desperate to find a home for her dog, Harry. He was a Bull Terrier―the same breed as Martha's dear Minnie. Would Martha consider giving Harry a safe, loving new home?
In short order, boy dog meets girl dog, the fairy tale part of this story. But there is so much more to this book. After Martha agrees to meet Harry and his owner Carol, what begins as a transaction involving a dog becomes a deep and meaningful friendship between two women with complicated lives and a love of Bull Terriers in common. Through the heartbreak and grief of Carol's illness, the bond that develops changed Martha's life, Carol's life, Minnie's life, Harry's life. As it changed Carol's death as well.
In this rich and touching narrative, Martha considers the ways our stories are shaped by the people we meet, and the profound love we can find by opening our hearts to unexpected encounters.
"Teichner's main themes are sure to warm readers in this cold coronavirus winter: the steadfast devotion between dogs and their owners, and the essential role friendship plays in sustaining both humans and their beloved pets … Teichner has learned that we all have the capacity to create and build new friendships and attachments at whatever age or stage of life. That such rewards are possible is the inspirational lesson for all the characters in ― and readers of ― this touching saga." ―The Washington Post
"When Harry Met Minnie made me cry and made me dance with joy. It's an exquisite tale about heartbreak and healing, critters and humans, and the little miracles life hands us when we need them the most." ―Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses
"When Harry Met Minnie is a tour-de-force of storytelling. Martha Teichner not only charts the course of two remarkable friendships, between two people and two dogs, she invites us to consider our own relationships. The stars that had to align to put someone special in our life. This is a love story, masterful, warm and funny, heartfelt and heartbreaking. I absolutely loved this book." ―Louise Penny, New York Times bestselling author of All the Devils Are Here
This information about When Harry Met Minnie was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Martha Teichner has been a correspondent for "CBS Sunday Morning" since December 1993, where she's equally adept at covering major breaking national and international news stories as she is handling in-depth cultural and arts topics. Since joining CBS News in 1977, Teichner has earned multiple national awards for her original reporting, including thirteen Emmy Awards and five James Beard Foundation Awards. Teichner was also part of team coverage of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, which earned CBS News a 2014 duPont-Columbia Award. Teichner was born in Traverse City, Mich. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1969 with a bachelor's degree in economics. She attended the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business Administration. Teichner resides in New York City.
If you liked When Harry Met Minnie, try these:
by Annie Hartnett
Published 2023
A lost young woman returns to small-town New Hampshire under the strangest of circumstances in this one-of-a-kind novel of life, death, and whatever comes after from the acclaimed author of Rabbit Cake.
by Sohn Won-pyung
Published 2021
The Emissary meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in this poignant and triumphant story about how love, friendship, and persistence can change a life forever.
One Night Two Souls Went Walking
by Ellen Cooney
Published 2020
A young interfaith chaplain is joined on her hospital rounds one night by an unusual companion: a rough-and-tumble dog who may or may not be a ghost.
The library is the temple of learning, and learning has liberated more people than all the wars in history
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
