Passion, Glory and Lots of Drool at the Westminster Dog Show

Join Avid Bookshop and the UGA Narrative Nonfiction Program to welcome author Tommy Tomlinson for his new book Country of dogs.

This event will take place on Wednesday, July 31st from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. A book signing session will take place after the event.

For accessibility requests, contact [email protected]Please submit your request at least two weeks before the event.

Tommy Tomlinson is the author of The elephant in the room, a memoir about being overweight in America. He is the host of the SouthBound podcast in partnership with WFAE, Charlotte’s NPR station. He has written for publications including Esquire, ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, Garden & Gun, and more. He spent twenty-three years as a local reporter and columnist for the Charlotte Observer, where he was a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary. His stories have been selected twice for the Best American Sports Writing series (2012 and 2015) and he has also appeared in the America’s Best Newspaper Writing anthology. He teaches magazine writing at Wake Forest University and has taught at colleges, workshops, and conferences across the country. He also has a Substack called The Writing Shed. Tommy and his wife, Alix Felsing, live in Charlotte with Alix’s mother and a cat.

A few years ago, Tommy Tomlinson was watching a dog show on television when a thought came to him: Are these dogs happy? What about pet dogs? These questions sparked a quest to venture into the world of dog shows, seeking a deeper understanding of the relationship between dogs and humans that has endured for thousands of years. Country of dogs Tomlinson shares his surprising, entertaining and moving adventures. He spends three years on the road, going behind the scenes at more than a hundred competitions across the country, from Midwest fairs to Madison Square Garden. Along the way, he is licked, sniffed and rubbed against by dogs of almost every size, shape and breed. Like a real-life version of the classic mockumentary. Best of Show, Country of dogs follows a champion show dog, a Samoyed named Striker, along with his handler, Laura King, and his devoted entourage of breeders and owners as he competes in the 2022 Westminster Dog Show. Captivating, charming and insightful, Country of dogs is an irresistibly engaging read that takes us on a wild, behind-the-scenes tour through the rituals, tricks, and wonders of the dog show world—and reveals what matters most to the happiness of dogs and dog lovers everywhere.

Date and time: Wednesday, July 31, 2024 – 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.