I picked up Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean after listening to a NPR segment about the book. It might have been an interview with the author. I can't remember. But, I can say that the segment on NPR was more interesting than the book. This isn't a book about Rin Tin Tin and Lee Duncan. It's a book about the idea of Rin Tin Tin and the author's search for that meaning. And, of course, Hollywood.

It does seem like the author did a lot of research for this book and Ms. Orlean does come across as really caring about her topic. It is obvious that there isn't much material to research and it felt like the author had to stretch out the material to make it book length. Pages and pages of the author driving around the countryside of France looking for the bombed out field where Lee Duncan found a litter of puppies but finding an American military cemetery seemed out of place in the middle of a story about a dog. I believe that Ms. Orlean was trying to personalize her search and so her personal interest in the story and Rin Tin Tin but I didn't feel that it worked and just wished she would get on with the story.