Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean came up on my amazon.com recommended list. My first reaction was skepticism; it seemed hard to imagine that a book about a dog who died 80-years ago would be interesting.

But I do love dogs and once owned a beautiful (and incredibly smart) German Shepherd. Plus I knew nothing about Rin Tin Tin … wasn’t he a real dog who did some heroic things in a war and then Hollywood turned it into a television show? Since learning new things is the point of reading, the book went onto my list.

Turned out that most of what I knew about Rin Tin Tin was wrong. The story about the dog is really a story about the rise of Hollywood. It’s an interesting insight into celebrity worship and how “stars” are born. And since the original Rin Tin Tin hit the scene in the early 1920’s, and the last well known Rin Tin Tin was a star for the television series in the 1950’s, then the story of the Rin Tin Tin “franchise” traces a big part of America’s cultural influence on the world.

This book could just as easily been titled “the life and times of the owner of Rin Tin Tin.” Lee Duncan was that owner and he managed to train an exceptional dog who became a movie star. Some of the offspring of the original Rin Tin Tin have also been stars, and they were all owned or managed by Duncan until his death in 1960. The book continues the story as others try to create new Rin Tin Tin shows. And of course there are the inevitable court battles over who owns the Rin Tin Tin legacy.

It’s a good book. I didn’t go into it with high expectations, but I finished the book with a clear understanding of the cultural phenomena created by this incredible dog. Most people would also enjoy the story. Or, if you don’t mind the pun, this book is a fun tale. 🙂