A Dog’s Life

Marley & Me (2005), John Grogan’s memoir about his family’s big, neurotic Lab, is now available for kids. The picture book version, Bad Dog, Marley! and Marley: A Dog Like No Other (2007, all HarperCollins) for middle-schoolers have also attained best-selling status.

Are the new versions of your book vastly different from the original?

I have a 10-year-old daughter, and I don’t think she’s ready to read a book that talks about her parents’ sex life and about [my wife’s] miscarriage and our attempts at procreation. So I started thinking “maybe I should have an adapted version that’s toned down for kids.” I see the book as really true to Marley & Me, [but] with sections that weren’t appropriate for kids removed, some of the language simplified.

Did Marley open the way for more dog memoirs?

I can’t say that it’s because of me or not, but I think it’s a safe assumption that the success of my book has had something to do with publishers’ willingness to give a closer look to books along these themes.