I've liked other books by Orlean much better. There wasn't so much meat here as I expected, somehow. The official story of Rin Tin Tin is odd, full of half-truths and outright lies, strange characters and broken hearts. There's nothing cheerful anywhere- not the dogs, not the owners, not the companies promoting same. I liked the original story of how the original puppy was found, but the rest was pretty grim reading.