Cormac | 
 enlarge | Author: Sonny Brewer
Publisher: MacAdam/Cage
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
Buy New: $6.88
You Save: $6.12 (47%)
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Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 78650
Media: Paperback
Pages: 200
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 1596923024
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781596923027
ASIN: 1596923024
Publication Date: September 28, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Cormac is a novel based on real events, and tells the tale of a Golden Retriever, who ran away from his Alabama home while the owner was on a book tour in San Francisco. Cormac had always been afraid of storms, they made him cower and tremble. Or, in this case, run, run like the shrieking wind that blew the rain across the land. Maybe if Cormac s master had not been away from home, and his food and water poured for him by a stranger s hand, things would have been different. But on that day the young male dog took off into an adventure that would land him in the bed of a red pickup truck, driven by a mysterious woman who would hand him over to the dog pound, and the dog pound would hand him over to a rescue group who would take him to a clinic to be fixed by a routine scalpel and end his royal lineage. Cormac would be hauled to Connecticut in the back of a van, and turned over to another rescue group that would offer him for adoption on the internet. These things are known because Cormac s owner, Sonny Brewer, the author of this book, went door to door in his neighborhood gathering one clue and then another, one bit of information and then another. When the trail led him to the dog pound and the director there refused to disclose information to Sonny, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist friend promised the story would make national news in 48 hours unless Sonny was told everything he wanted to know. Doors and phone lines then opened and Sonny attempted to determine if the Golden Retriever the foster family called Cognac was in fact Cormac. Sonny felt 90 percent certain it was his dog and agreed to take him, paying a pet transport driver $300 to bring the Golden south to Alabama.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Hurrah for happy endings! June 17, 2008
Sharlene Washington (CA USA)
Having recently lost (and found) a cat who went missing for 21 days, I can relate to the anguish the author felt when his dog, Cormac went missing. It was especially endearing to listen to the book read by the author with his engaging southern accent. I felt transported to Fairhope, Alabama and the Over the Transom Bookstore as the author recounted his heartbreaking experience of losing his beloved pet and his struggle to reclaim him.
The author has been criticized for not having his pet neutered and for not keeping it fenced in (he did however have an electronic fence). How about a neighbor who would knowingly take someone's pet to the pound after removing his identification, potentially making it difficult for him to be reunited with his owner? That should be criminal!
A written testimony to the strength of a bond between man and his pet January 8, 2008
Bookreporter.com (New York, New York)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Sonny Brewer dedicates his heartwarming and heart-rending novel, which is based on real events, to his beloved dogs, Rex and Cormac. The cover art, a full-color photograph of Cormac, is in itself a testimony to the nature of his relationship with his pet. CORMAC took more than three years to be written, so gut-wrenching it was for Brewer to accomplish. He introduces us to his dog in this manner: "Now I think about the world's handsomest and sweetest Golden Retriever, as smart as any four-year-old child, who answers to the name, Cormac..." He goes on to describe Cormac's home in an aging farmhouse on the outskirts of Fairhope, Alabama.
But Brewer's agony begins upon receiving a phone call from his house-sitter while on an extended business trip. The voice rings in his ear: "Man, your dog is missing. I can't find Cormac anywhere."
Stunned by the unwelcome news, Brewer is emotionally unglued. What on earth has happened back in the sleepy town of 12,000 in Alabama? He adores his wife and two children, but Cormac has found a comfort space in his heart that deepens with each passing day. Anguish now fills that void with the realization that the dog may be dead, stolen, a runaway stray and lost to him forever.
Cormac's entry into the Brewer household had been a story in itself. Having promised his wife and children a puppy, they embark on a trip to see a litter of Golden Retriever puppies. The dog's sire was known as "Rock" and the grandfather was "Bear." A reddish-brown pup had shadowed Brewer from the moment he stepped from his vehicle. As he related, "The adoption seemed fated...a ball of fur the color of Ann-Margaret's hair...between red and auburn." The family agrees on the name "King," but Brewer holds out for his favored author, Cormac McCarthy. Cormac becomes king of the household.
The founder of Over the Transom Bookstore in Fairhope, Brewer spends time and money investing in rare manuscripts and first editions. The bookstore is successful, but additional funds from the sale of his debut novel will feed his family. It is well-stocked and well-known, yet sales are occasionally thin. Cormac is purchased as a family pet but becomes his master's best friend in a short time. The majority of his day is spent in quiet repose at the bookstore. Thunderstorms change quiet repose to anxious roaming. Cormac, usually docile, can turn into a terrified wanderer. The family yard has boundaries, but a young dog becomes exuberant and crosses the line. Brewer hires a company to install an electric fence, buried underground. When a line is crossed, the wire will send an impulse to shock the unwitting animal. On the fateful day that Cormac disappears, the shock waves do not work.
CORMAC is a story written by a deeply artistic soul. Brewer's personal anguish over the loss of his dog runs throughout his written pages. The reader feels his pain, panic and depression when his real trial begins: the business of recovering Cormac, if possible. He is a man with a mission. We cheer him with each step he takes to find his lost canine friend. CORMAC is a short book that is lengthy in warmth, a written testimony to the strength of a bond between man and his pet.
--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad
 Irresponsible dog ownership January 4, 2008
avidreader
13 out of 18 found this review helpful
I completely agree with the reviewer that says the author is irresponsible and I worry that people will get the wrong message from reading this book. In addition, I did not find the writing style conducive to gaining my sympathy or compassion for either dog or owner. I would not recommend the book either for its style, nor its message.
****SPOILERS BELOW****
1. The dog was unneutered. The excuse that the author's mother "might want a puppy someday" is not sufficient to keep an unneutered dog around. Everyone believes their dog is special but the fact is, their dog is no more special to the world than any other dog and this fallacy is the reason we have so many unwanted pets in shelters.
2. The dog was left unattended with an electronic fence. I also use electronic fences for my dogs, and I do believe they can be used successfully. However, in this case a dog that has, multiple times, run through the fence and a dog that is known to be terrified by thunder, was left unattended. This is irresponsible on the owner's part. It is NOT the fault of the friend who was taking care of the dog, it is the fault of the owner for not finding a solution to the problem or kenneling the dog when he was out of town. This was a tragedy waiting to happen, and indeed it did.
3. The author blames the neighbor for taking the dog to the shelter. The dog had previously been on the neighbor's property multiple times and the owner had not dealt with the problem. This is not the neighbor's fault. One would hope that a neighbor would call the owner, however in this case the neighbor reached her limit. Again, I am a dog owner and dog lover, but I respect the rights of others and I do not allow my dogs to encroach on others' territory, certainly not multiple times.
4. The owner called shelters. If one researches appropriate measures to take when a dog is missing, they are always advised to GO TO the shelter, not to call. A dog (or cat) cannot be accurately enough described on the phone and the shelter cannot always know if they have the animal or not. The author should have personally gone to local shelters every few days.
Perhaps the author is simply naive about pet ownership, but in my opinion he would have done a much greater service to animals if he had written this book from the angle of "I did these things wrong and I was fortunate to get my dog back, please learn from my mistakes and don't repeat them".
 A GREAT book for dog lovers! December 9, 2007
Toby Martin II (Erskine, Minnesota United States)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
"CORMAC, the tale of a dog gone missing," is a truly great book for anyone who has owned or been around a special dog and friend. Author Sonny Brewer writes with love and honesty about his special Golden Retriever whom he named Cormac. His descriptions of his companion poignantly and accurately convey the close relationship between a man and man's-best-friend. Highly recommended for all dog lovers!
--Ron Howe (aka Toby Martin II) / Erskine, Minnesota
Kat Albrecht, Pet Detective November 13, 2007
Kat Albrecht (Clovis, CA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
As an author, I seldom have time to write reviews for other books but I LOVED this book! Sonny Brewer did a great job of presenting his story while helping readers fall in love with Cormac. I was never bored and the chapters were well rounded. As a pet detective, this book is a perfect example of why so many lost companion animals are displaced and never reunited with their families. Shelter workers wonder why many of the stray dogs who pass through their shelters don't have families showing up to look for them. I read a previous review where someone was blaming Sonny for what happened to Cormac. The shelter workers, the rescue group volunteers, and Sonny Brewer are not to blame for what happened in this story! We need to stop blaming, LEARN from this story, and just start developing lost pet services and shelter programs that help people like Sonny when they have lost a dog, cat, or other companion animal that they love! This book will be required reading for all the Pet Detectives who take our (Missing Pet Partnership's) certification course! Well done Sonny!
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