‘Travels With Casey’ is a brilliant, funny, heartwarming book about an epic journey across America and the dogs (and men) Benoit and Casey met in the process.
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Benoit Denizet-Lewis was the first Editor-in-Chief of The Good Men Project — and what an Editor-in-Chief he was. He helped give The Good Men Project its voice, its content strategy, its connections with large media and an editorial rhythm we use to this day. Benoit came to The Good Men Project with a stellar resume—most notably his ongoing articles for The New York Times Magazine, as well as two previous books, America Anonymous and American Voyeur.
And then came Travels With Casey. Benoit—like most people—was worried that his dog didn’t like him very much. Ok, perhaps that’s not-so-average a worry, but it was on Benoit’s mind enough that he actually talked to a therapist about it. And so, Benoit did what any dog-loving, worried, American writer would do—he rented an RV and tricked Casey into hopping aboard for a 3-month long jaunt to meet other dogs. Just what is the relationship people have with their dogs? they asked at every turn. While on the journey they discovered an amazing variety of dogs and their owners–from the famed dog whisperer to pet psychics to canine mascots. The book gives an exquisite peek into the relationship we have with dogs of every kind.
We caught up with Benoit after his trip and right before he embarks again—on his book tour.
1) The book opens with a fascinating scene — you’re talking to a therapist, and you are telling him your fear that Casey, your dog, doesn’t like you. The way you talk about your relationship with Casey is in distinctly human terms. When you describe Casey, he speaks (ok, “Little Speak”) and sights. At one point your therapist says “Casey might not be the dog of your dreams” — and that stops you in your tracks. You feel guilty. You go on to talk about how you wish Casey was more of a cuddler. How a relationship with a dog should be built on unconditional love and you just don’t feel that with Casey.
In fact, although the book is about dogs, what it really seems to be about relationships. You take this amazing journey, meet both humans and dogs–hundreds of them it seems! And the relationships are what holds it together. It’s almost like, “we’re more alike than we know.” People and dogs, dogs and people. I think that sometimes as a society we make an artificial barrier between how we “should” act with dogs, where there really needn’t be any. What was your own biggest learning about the relationships people have with dogs?
We have an incredibly diverse range of relationships with our dogs in this country. Though we talk a lot in recent years about how great our dogs have it in America (how spoiled they are, how they are treated like our “kids”), that’s only part of the story. There are many places in this country–specially in poorer areas, including crime-ridden inner cities and sleepy Indian reservations–where hundreds of thousands of dogs roam alone or in packs, often dying young. There’s a class system for dogs, just as there is for people.
There’s also a staggering number of roles that dogs play in our lives. It was fascinating to compare how a homeless teenager outside Seattle, a housewife in Florida, and a prolific dog rescuer in St. Louis think of their dogs. Dogs serve so many purposes in our lives.
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2) One of the things I love the most about the book is that it feels so alive. I could hear the dogs as you described them. The dogs we meet along the way are always in motion. They are in all stages of life. They are complex. When you were on that three month journey did you feel that way — more alive than you ever had? How did it change you? Did you act or behave or think differently after it was done?
The most alive I’ve ever felt in my life (and that’s not an exaggeration) were the days I spent rescuing dogs with dog rescuer Randy Grim in East St. Louis, the most dangerous neighborhood in America. I’m not sure how to say this without sound cliche, but I’ve never been more present. I’ve never been less selfish. I’ve never felt like a better man. We would spend full days rescuing puppies and strays and injured feral dogs, and all that mattered were these dogs that society didn’t give a shit about. I realized one day that I hadn’t looked at my cell phone once. That, literally, never happens. Rescuing dogs is the ultimate high. I suspect that rescuing humans might be an even bigger high, but you can’t just take injured, forgotten, and stray humans and kidnap them and give them a better life. With dogs, you can So we did.
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3) When you told people about your trip, either before or during, they often compared what you were doing to Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. And yet — you needn’t have worried, you owned this. You created something that truly was about Casey, and the dogs you met–first, and only the journey second. The journey created a beautiful backdrop to talk about the dogs. Did it surprise you that there were no other journey’s of a man and his dog as Travels with Charley? Did that excite you; did you feel as if as long as you wrote this “not like Steinbeck” you would break new ground?
What I knew is that I wanted to write a different kind of dog book. Truth be told, there are probably too many books about dogs. With that in mind, I wanted to create a unique experience. Is driving around the country with your dog and writing about it unique? Not really. Steinbeck did it. But as I explain in the book, the purposes of our trips were different. His book wasn’t a book about dogs. My book is. It’s an attempt to explore the full breadth of human-dog relationships in a fun, creative way. But it’s also a travel book, and a very personal story about this cross-country journey that I needed to take at a time of my life where I felt stuck. My relationships–romantic, friendship–weren’t going well. I was depressed. I was even convinced my dog didn’t like me very much. So I need to shake things up. Driving around the country in an RV for four months with only a dog seemed like a surefire way to do that.
4) One of my favorite chapters is where you find and adopt Rezzy. Of all the dogs you met—why that particular one?
There were several dogs I met at shelters that I almost took with me. Then, when I pulled over for gas on the Navajo Indian reservation in Arizona, I was greeted by four strays (or “rez dogs,” as they’re called) who hang around the station. One–a black dog with engorged breasts who appeared almost red from playing in the clay–took an immediate interest in me and wouldn’t leave my side. It’s hard to know exactly why I picked her; it’s probably because she looked like she really didn’t belong there. She seemed to need to be close to a human. I wanted to take all the dogs, but a couple of them looked at Casey with questionable intentions. I also had frightening visions of what four stray dogs might do thrown into an RV with Casey. I made a video of the rescue of that dog (and what I learned about Rez Dogs), which you can check out here.
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5) What was your favorite part of the journey?
That’s a tough question–there were so many amazing places, people, and dogs. Hanging out with pet psychics was strange and fun; so was driving around with a K9 cop, and picking up a hitchhiker and his dog who were on the way to meet a woman in another state that the man had met on the Internet. After rescuing dogs with Randy and rescuing Rezzy, I’d say my favorite part was probably the day I spent with Casey in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, a sleepy town known for its mineral-rich waters. It was so incredibly beautiful and peaceful, and I wish I could have spent weeks there. Problem was, at that point of my journey I’d convinced myself that my RV was infested with bed bugs. So I had to drive to Santa Fe and find an exterminator. Fun times.
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Follow @BenoitDLewis on Twitter, and learn more about Travels With Casey here.
Sweet. Will have to dig into his book. Looks like he will be here in Portland, OR, in early August. I’ve logged hundreds of thousands of miles with a dog as a co-pilot meandering this crazy and beautiful country. My current dog has road tripped with me South of the equator and North of the Equator. We’ve traversed mountains in New Zealand, California, Oregon, Washington and Canada. Dogs and road trips go together!
I used to tell my Ex that if I had a old Ford Pick-up truck, I could just cruise the USA with it and my pup Bosco. That’s an awesome journey. At least somebody got to do it!
Robert
http://www.thescareddad.com
Omg I love this. I might even have a little crush on Benoit now. Animals have a great way of revealing parts of yourself you didn’t know existed. From having to toughen up when they get injured to take care of them and swallow your own fear and queasiness, to discovering what you’re made of. I don’t have children but the day I got my dog, I realized that if I ever had kids, I was going to totally be an over protective Momma-bear. I had a lot of animals growing up but she was the first animal I had… Read more »