Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean

Rin Tin Tin was the name given to a dog adopted from a WWI battlefield that went on to star in twenty-three Hollywood films. The name was subsequently given to several related German Shepherd dogs featured in fictional stories on film, radio and television. “Big” is certainly the word for the sweeping story of the soulful German shepherd who was born on the battlefields, immigrated to America, conquered Hollywood, struggled in the transition to the talkies, helped mobilize thousands of dog volunteers against Hitler and himself emerged victorious as the perfect family-friendly icon of cold war gunslinging, thanks to the new medium of television.

Susan Orlean’s new book Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend is, like much of her previous work, a story that shines a light on obsession. Orlean delights in elegantly recasting fringe characters on their own terms, following them along narrative arcs from an exterior perspective, where they might seem strange or off-putting, to more sympathetic territory. The book more focuses on the owner Lee Duncan rather than the dog and explains owner and trainer Lee Duncan's extreme, almost romantic devotion to his dog.

Critics say, "It was fascinating to read about the 16 million animals deployed in World War I as scouts, messengers, carriers of medical supplies, and sentries. The insertion of the author’s personal reflections detracted from the more compelling story, but is a minor flaw in an otherwise extraordinary book".