One of the tastiest refreshments people have been carrying out of Starbucks lately is a book with a deep-blue jacket and the profile of a yellow, smooth-coated dog. That's because the coffee giant decided to sell The Art of Racing in the Rain by Seattle author Garth Stein in more than 7,000 stores.

While I can't say much for Starbucks coffee, I'm on board with this literary brew. In the novel, a dog named Enzo recounts his life with a race-car driver and his family. I know an entire novel from the point of view of a dog sounds labored but this is one wise and witty dog.

In an interview, Stein said he was inspired to try a canine narrator after hearing Billy Collins read his poem The Revenant at Seattle Arts and Lectures a few years back. That poem, wherein a euthanized dog tells it like it is, is a worthy catalyst.

The only big giveaway for me that Stein's book was not channeled from an actual quadruped is Enzo's embrace of the Mongolian belief that dogs reincarnate as humans. I mean, look at them, isn't it more likely that progress or enlightenment would move in the other direction?

Garth Stein reads at Elliott Bay Book Company in Pioneer Square on Wednesday, June 25 at 7:30 p.m.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company