Review by Martha Quillen
Fiction – December 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
Together – A Novel of Shared Vision
by Tom Sullivan with Betty White
Published in 2008 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
ISBN: 1595544569
WHEN I SAW THIS Colorado novel co-authored by Golden Girl Betty White, I was curious. What sort of novel would she write about our state?
Well, it’s an animal book. Apparently White is a well-known animal activist, and Sullivan is a friend of hers who is also an actor, singer, author and producer who lost his eyesight as an infant.
One suspects that this is primarily Sullivan’s book. It’s a touching story about the evolving relationship between a young man and his guide dog.
Brenden McCarthy, the protagonist, is angry and bitter after a climbing accident near Aspen costs him his vision, and he becomes seriously disillusioned when it turns out that his betrothed isn’t quite as devoted as she should be. But in the end, the love of a good dog brings him through.
And then, of course, Brenden meets a good woman….
This book is more than a trifle predictable — and didactic. According to the cover copy, Sullivan writes books for “youths and adults,” and his style reflects that. In fact sometimes Sullivan’s tendency to teach and preach gets downright irritating — especially when it involves what constitutes good male/female relationships.
The hero’s problems with his fiance are far too simplistic, and the author’s passages on what constitutes true love are ridiculously pat and parental. But in the course of this book, that hardly mattered, because the love story here is between a man and his dog — not a man and a woman.
This book is instructive, moralistic, and definitely intended to educate, which gives it a decidedly juvenile feel. But the story is informative, the details about dog training are edifying, and the main characters grow on you.
All in all, Together probably won’t earn a place on your list of literary treasures, but it’s pleasant enough, and you may learn something about guide dogs and programs for the handicapped. The author also includes a fairly exciting segment about climbing during a snow storm, and displays plenty of affection for the canine character and lots of dogged devotion. Together is quick, readable, and interesting.
One curious facet about the book, however, is its errors. Although the author is clearly familiar with Colorado, the manuscript refers to Mt. Albert rather than Elbert, and the panicked betrothed of the injured climber somehow makes the car trip from Denver to Grand Junction in a mere hour and 37 minutes. Such curious mistakes make one wonder whether they’re due to the author’s blindness, or the fact that he hails from Aspen and experiences most of our state as flyover country.
Either way, this book offers some new perspectives about Colorado. For those of us who know all too well that you would have to be jet-propelled to make it from Grand Junction to Denver in less than two hours, it illuminates some things about our region that are right in our backyard, yet over the hill and out of sight.
