The Art of Racing in the Rain (2008) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

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• Enzo: The main character and narrator. Enzo is a dog named after Enzo Ferrari who is remarkably smart on a human level but can't communicate (he's a dog, after all). He tells the story of his owner's life in excellent detail and what he learns along the way.
• Zoe Swift: Denny's and Eve's daughter
• Eve Swift: Denny's wife
• Dennis Swift: Amateur race car driver who works as a customer service rep at a BMW dealership; Enzo's (the narrator) owner. Husband to Eve and Father to Zoe
• The Twins: Maxwell and Trish, Eve's rich parents. Enzo nicknames them this because they mirror each other in everything they do and wear.
• Mike: Denny's friend and co-worker
• Tony: Mike's "wife"
• Miss Annika: A teenaged cousin of Eve's
• Mark Fein: Denny's lawyer
• Luca Pantoni: Serious car driver who works for Ferrari.
• Ayrton Senna: a race car driver
• Zoë: Denny & Eve's daughter
• Mommy: Zoe's mother, Eve, wife of Dennis.
• Maxwell: Add a description of this character.
• Pat
• Grandpa
• Grandma
• Ken
• Jim guy
• Craig
• Mr. Lawrence
• Don Kitch
• Enz
• Trish

Quotes edit see section history

• “Who is Achilles without his tendon? Who is Samson without Delilah? Who is Oedipus without his clubfoot? Mute by design, I have been able to study the art of rhetoric unfettered by ego and self interest, and so I know the answers to these questions.The true hero is flawed. The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles - preferably of his own making - in order to triumph. A hero without flaw is of no interest to an audience or to the universe, which, after all, is based on conflict and opposition, the irresistible force meeting the unmovable object.”

  Enzo

• “The sun rises every day. What is to love? Lock the sun in a box. Force the sun to overcome adversity in order to rise. Then we will cheer! I will often admire a sunrise, but I will never consider the sun a champion for having risen.”

  Enzo

• “Such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by no one other than ourselves”

  Enzo

• “That which is around me does not affect my mood; my mood affects that which is around me.”

  Enzo

• “That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves.”

• “Monkey, I think not.”

  enzo

• “Your car goes where your eyes go. Simply another way of saying that which you manifest is before you.”

  Enzo

• “It reminded me of my own mother at mealtime when she sighed and shrugged herself to the ground, lifting her leg to expose her nipples to us. These are the devices i use to feed you. Now eat!”

• “Those monkey-thumbs were meant for dogs. Give me my thumbs you fucking monkeys!”

  Enzo

• “They sit in the trees and on the electric wires and on the roofs and they watch everything, the sinister little bastards. They cackle with a dark edge, like they're mocking you, cawing constantly, they know where you are when you're in the house, they know where you are when you're outside, they're always waiting. The smaller cousin of the raven, they are resentful and angry, bitter at being genetically dwarfed by their brothers. The raven, it is said, is the next step up the evolutionary ladder from a man. The raven created man, after all, according to the legends of the Nortwest Coast natives. (It's interesting to note here that the deity that corresponds with the raven in Plains Indian folklore is the coyote, which is a dog. Sot it seems to me we are all smashed together at the top of the spiritual food chain. ) So if the raven created the man, and the crow is the raven's cousin, where does the crow fit in?”

• “The true hero is flawed. The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles--preferably of his own making--in order to triumph. A hero without a flaw is of no interest to an audience or to the universe, which, after all, is based on conflict and opposition, the irresistible force meeting the unmovable object.”

  Enzo

• “Does a child know his own spiritual background, his own pedigree? I doubt it. But somewhere, a child surprises himself with his endurance, his quick mind, his dexterous hands. Somewhere a child accomplishes with ease that which usually takes great effort. And this child, who has been blind to his past but whose heart still beats for the thrill of the race, this child's soul awakens. And a new champion walks among us.”

• “They left the next morning. Like the last strong autumn wind that rattles the trees until the remaining leaves fall, brief but powerful was their visit, signaling that the season had changed, and soon, life would begin again.”

• “'But what if I don't win?' he asked. 'There is no dishonor in losing the race,' Don said. 'There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose.'”

  Denny and Don

• “I liked my stuffed dog better clean than smelly, which was something I never would have imagined, but which gave me something I could hold on to. Some belief that the center of our family could not be fractured by a chance occurrence, an accidental washing, an unexpected illness. Deep in the kernel of our family existed a bond; Denny, Zoe, Eve, me, and even my stuffed dog. However things might change around us, we would always be together.”

  Enzo

• “Could Denny have possibly appreciated the subjective nature of loneliness, which is something that exists only in the mind, not in the world, and, like a virus, is unable to survive without a willing host?”

  Enzo

• “That which is around me does not affect my mood; my mood affects that which is around me. Is it true?”

  Enzo

• “I learn about other cultures and other ways of life, and I start thinking about my own place in the world and what makes sense and what doesn't.”

  Enzo

• “"Trust me when I tell you that the zebra is real. Somewhere the zebra is dancing."”

  Enzo

• “So what if man's body evolved from the monkeys? Whether he came from monkeys or fish is unimportant. The important idea is that when the body became "human" enough, the first human soul slipped into it.”

  Enzo

• “"One bark means slower, two means faster, got it?" I barked twice, and that surprised him...”

  Denny / Enzo

Setting & Locations edit see section history

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• Seattle: Where Denny, Zoe, Enzo and Eve live
• Daytona
• Europe: Where some races take place
• Maranello
• Italy
• Sonoma
• Mercer Island: Where Zoe's grandparents live

First Sentence edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Garth Stein (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Some sexual parts. Adult themes and language- the plot hinges on "statutory rape" and the psychology of a girl who is sexually mature and attractive while in the 9th grade (not emotionally mature). Teaches a good lesson but I don't think anyone under 14 can "get this lesson".

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › United States

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Garth Stein

Movie Connections edit see section history

• The Art of Racing in the Rain (IMDb): Tentative release date of 2012, starring Patrick Dempsey.

More Books Like This edit see section history