DOG MEDICINE
How My Dog Saved Me from Myself
An honest and deeply moving debut memoir about a young woman’s battle with depression and how her dog saved her life
At twenty-two, Julie Barton collapsed on her kitchen floor in Manhattan. She was one year out of college and severely depressed. Summoned by Julie’s incoherent phone call, her mother raced from Ohio to New York and took her home.
Haunted by troubling childhood memories, Julie continued to sink into suicidal depression. Psychiatrists, therapists, and family tried to intervene, but nothing reached her until the day she decided to do one hopeful thing: adopt a Golden Retriever puppy she named Bunker.
An honest and deeply moving debut memoir about a young woman’s battle with depression and how her dog saved her life
At twenty-two, Julie Barton collapsed on her kitchen floor in Manhattan. She was one year out of college and severely depressed. Summoned by Julie’s incoherent phone call, her mother raced from Ohio to New York and took her home.
Haunted by troubling childhood memories, Julie continued to sink into suicidal depression. Psychiatrists, therapists, and family tried to intervene, but nothing reached her until the day she decided to do one hopeful thing: adopt a Golden Retriever puppy she named Bunker. Dog Medicine captures the anguish of depression, the slow path to recovery, the beauty of forgiveness, and the astonishing ways animals can help heal even the most broken hearts and minds.
- Penguin Books
- Paperback
- July 2016
- 256 Pages
- 9780143130017
Buy the Book
$17.00
About Julie Barton
Julie Barton holds a B.A. from Kenyon College, an M.F.A. in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and an M.A. in women’s studies from Southern Connecticut State University. She lives in Northern California with her husband, two daughters, and small menagerie of pets.
Praise
“A heartfelt page-turner about depression and how dogs can save us from ourselves.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Dog Medicine is the kind of memoir that will bring tears of sadness and joy to anyone who has ever felt rescued by a pet. It is a memoir about how the right animal can inspire not just hope but mercy. Julie Barton’s prose is lyrical and unflinching, a gorgeous howl in the darkness that leads the reader into the light.” —Steve Almond, author of Against Football and Candyfreak
“You may think you’re about to read a book about a charming dog, or about struggling with identity in your twenties, or about how a young woman pulls herself together after a diagnosis of depression. But you’d be wrong. Dog Medicine is a love story—a great big beautiful honest touching intoxicating riveting page-turning instruction manual on the palpable healing power of love and forgiveness. Every word in this book is as honest and courageous as any I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot.” —Robin Oliveira, New York Times bestselling author of My Name is Mary Sutter
Dog Medicine simply has to be your next must-read.” —Cheryl Strayed