We read books about dogs for the same reason that we have dogs in our lives. We just can't get enough of them (at least I can't). Those of us with dogs just might think that our beloved pets belong in this memorable collection, because the best dog in the world is usually our own. The essays are expertly edited by Alice Hoffman, who in the introduction shares a touching story about her dog, Houdini. She writes what all dog parents know: "I still don't think I was worthy of him."

Be warned: Some of the pieces in THE BEST DOG IN THE WORLD deal with loss. The authors' grief at the passing of their dog served to magnify my own heartbreak at the loss of so many of my cherished dogs, especially the two dearest to my heart. The first essay by Emily Henry starts with: "The dog dies in this." Thanks, Emily. Thanks for making me feel all over again that heartrending grief that overcomes us when we lose the creature who loved us best of all. I cried. Dottie was not only a beautiful animal (inside, not outside), Henry's essay about her will keep that sweet dog alive in our minds forever.

"...[a] memorable collection... The essays are expertly edited by Alice Hoffman, who in the introduction shares her touching story about her dog, Houdini.... [R]ead these fabulous, heartrending stories and experience vicariously the joys (and sorrow) of loving a dog."

The next piece is by Bonnie Garmus, and this dog --- like the one in her fabulous novel, LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY --- has a numeric name. 99 was not who she had expected to rescue. The whole essay will make you laugh and cry in equal measure. It's a beautiful tribute to 99 and to the love that Garmus shared with this quirky, amazing creature. (The only greyhound we fostered hated my husband when he was dressed in a tuxedo and would growl at him when he came home from his job as a bandleader. She was the one and only greyhound we fostered.) But 99? She found the perfect home, and they found a dog to cherish. I dare ANYONE to read this magnificent essay and not be moved.

There are stories about show dogs, German shepherds, and dogs big and small. What they all have in common is that the authors share experiences about dogs who changed their lives. And that's the magic of having a dog. When you love them and they love you back, it's perhaps the purest form of love ever. When you love another human, there is always some friction because, let's face it, none of us is perfect, and we do things that sometimes (or often) irritate others.

But dogs? Even when they make a mess, are miserable, or leave poop all over the floor, we forgive them. Their job is to love us unconditionally. When they also make us laugh, cry, and feel safe and loved, that's the bonus.

Elizabeth Strout describes the emptiness of a home after a dog passes, "the silence within," with no dog running to the door to greet you anymore: "...we had to encounter a horrifying emptiness that reverberated for months." Until they got another dog and filled their house with love again. Chris Bohjalian admits, "And, yes, I had no idea how deeply and profoundly I was destined to fall in love with a rescue with one blue eye and one brown, a girl who helped keep me together when, it seemed, the world was falling apart."

Jodi Picoult talks about her "rebound" rescue and writes so lovingly about how ugly, difficult and splendidly intelligent she was. We fall in love with Isabel Allende's dog, Olivia. Paul Yoon shares what many of us have experienced: "I grow to want to be near his smell. His fur." So many times, I would lean into my beloved dog and put my nose on his head, breathing in his smell. Yoon captures that need perfectly.

In this set of essays, we meet dogs who became the perfect sibling, who provided love, humor, affection --- and even, in one case, trophies. Am I a terrible person if I admit that I especially loved the stories about the rescue dogs? I rescue myself, and lying across my lap right now is one of my fosters who was abandoned in Mexico with two other dogs when the owners moved. They left the dogs locked in the house. For three months the neighbors threw food over the fence, and finally a rescuer broke in to take them. Two came to Chicago when a friend flew here for a trip. My rescue took them in. And adorable Baxter and Dexter will find forever homes where they always will be safe and loved.

We have another foster, Archie; a pit bull mix who was dumped in the Everglades a decade ago; and a 10-year-old Shepherd mix who was confiscated from a home where the dogs were being abused. After two days of fostering him, my husband --- for the first time in the 42 years of our marriage --- said the magic words: "We are keeping him. He's my dog." As we read in these magnificently written, emotion-filled essays, rescue dogs are amazing.

But there's nothing really about a dog's pedigree, or lack thereof, that changes the basic fact that they truly are man's best friend (women's, too). What's heartbreaking is that too often man is not a dog's best friend. So read these fabulous, heartrending stories and experience vicariously the joys (and sorrow) of loving a dog. The true tragedy is that we outlive them. But then again, that means we have the chance to love so many of them, as the writers of these essays have.

And for those who don't have dogs? Adriana Trigiani sums it up perfectly: "All these years, I never had a dog and I didn't know what I was missing exactly."

You don't know what you are missing.