“So begins Susan Orlean’s sweeping, powerfully
moving account of Rin Tin Tin’s journey from orphaned puppy to movie star and
international icon. Orlean, a staff writer at The New Yorker who has been
hailed as “a national treasure” by The Washington Post, spent nearly ten years
researching and reporting her most captivating book to date: the story of a dog
who was born in 1918 and never died. It begins on a battlefield in France during
World War I, when a young American soldier, Lee Duncan, discovered a newborn
German shepherd in the ruins of a bombed-out dog kennel. To Duncan, who came of
age in an orphanage, the dog’s survival was a miracle. He saw something in Rin
Tin Tin that he felt compelled to share with the world. Duncan
brought Rinty home to California,
where the dog’s athleticism and acting ability drew the attention of Warner
Bros. Over the next ten years, Rinty starred in twenty-three blockbuster silent
films that saved the studio from bankruptcy and made him the most famous dog in
the world. At the height of his popularity, Rin Tin Tin was Hollywood’s number one box office star. During
the decades that followed, Rinty and his descendants rose and fell with the
times, making a tumultuous journey from silent films to talkies, from
black-and-white to color, from radio programs to one of the most popular
television shows of the baby boom era, The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin. The
canine hero’s legacy was cemented by Duncan and a small group of
others—including Bert Leonard, the producer of the TV series, and Daphne
Hereford, the owner of the current Rin Tin Tin—who have dedicated their lives
to making sure the dog’s legend will never die. At its core, Rin Tin Tin is a
poignant exploration of the enduring bond between humans and animals. It is
also a richly textured history of twentieth-century entertainment and
entrepreneurship. It spans ninety years and explores everything from the shift
in status of dogs from working farmhands to beloved family members, from the
birth of obedience training to the evolution of dog breeding, from the rise of Hollywood to the past and
present of dogs in war. Filled with humor and heart and moments that will move
you to tears, Susan Orlean’s first original book since The Orchid Thief is an
irresistible blend of history, human interest, and masterful storytelling—a
dazzling celebration of a great American dog by one of our most gifted writers.”
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