nonfiction audio (~6 hrs)

positive, heart-warming animal memoir - have tissues handy.

see also Jon Katz' Dog Days. ( )

This really was just an average read (3 stars), but since it did draw emotions out at the end, I did give it the extra star.

Christopher Hogwood was the runt of pig runts born in Hancock, New Hampshire, and named after an early classical music conductor. He was so small and sickly, and when the owners didn't have the heart to put it down, they offered him up to the author, Sy Montgomery, and her husband, to try and care for. He wasn't expected to live, but they brought him home in a shoe box and gave it their best effort. This is the true story of a pig that changed and healed lives all around him because he was given the chance to live, and lived he did...for 14 years. It's amazing how God will even use animals to help others in the healing process of the heart. But, the author doesn't let you know how lives were healed until the very last chapter.

Christopher was a well-known pig and was featured in the papers and magazines, even "Yankee" Magazine. People and restaurants saved food for him and would deliver just to be able to see him. When he busted loose, which was often, and ran around town, anyone who saw him would help in getting this 700 lb pig back home. Once, Sy came home to find the whole fire department at her house trying to get this stubborn pig back into the barn. Children were welcomed to help on Pig Spa day, where they would shine his hooves and give him a good rub down with lotions and/or mud. Christopher was loved.

But, as he was aging he developed a severe case of arthritis and it became hard for him to get around. He walked slowly and with a limp. So, you can imagine after getting to know him in the book, that the day before he died, he walked obediently with Sy out of the barn and next to her side without a limp up to the Pig Plateau where she gave him a little tummy rub. They walked back down together and she put him up for the night. He laid down, and she gave him a little rub and told him goodnight. Christopher gave her a little "Unkk" goodnight, and the next morning they found he had died in his sleep.

Animal lovers will enjoy this sweet little read. I can sure relate to the story because I have a black lab who was very much a runt and sick and dropped 0ff in our neighborhood back in 2005. I welcomed Beaux into our home and he's been my best bud ever since. He is now 15 years old and having a hard time getting around. At times, we have to help him up onto his legs, and at times he tries to act like he's still got a little spring in his step. He has geriatric poops while sleeping. He's got glaucoma so never wonders far. He's old. Like Christopher, his days are numbered. It's going to be a sad, sad day, one I'm not looking forward to at all. I pray God takes him in his sleep just like Christopher the pig so I won't have to make that decision...I don't think I can do it. ( )

I give it 5 stars, and not just because it's about a pig. It is a terrific story about a woman and her pig. When I got it (as a gift) I didn't know that the author, Sy Montgomery, is an accomplished writer, particularly on the topics of animals and natural history. Stories about her projects are sprinkled throughout this book, which of course is about the adventure of owning a pig, which is no small undertaking. Some things are obvious (pigs are big! They eat a lot!), but others are virtually unknown, since pigs are almost always raised for slaughter, and do not live more than a few months. I collect artistic representations of pigs but I also eat pork, and this book did not make me want to run out and get a pet pig (first I'd need a farm, and an enthusiastic and supportive community), although I did almost reconsider my pork consumption. However I think that, as with all meat we eat, there is a responsible way to eat pork. Certainly Christopher Hogwood's life story makes my belief in the nature of pigs all the stronger. ( )

A sweet, nicely written book about a pet pig who managed to endear itself to everyone it met.

Sy adopted her pig, Christopher Hogsworth, as a piglet and basically details its exploits along with those of her border collie, Tess, and flock of chickens, "The Ladies". Sy is a real animal lover, to the extent that people are quite secondary, and to some degree this is a tale of how a beloved animal actually opens her up more to people.

So why only three stars?

Well, the writing itself merits more. Sy does a nice job of writing a story that holds your attention and getting you actually invested in the fate of her pets. I really like animals, so I did enjoy hearing about their specific exploits and how they lived.

I was interested. I'm just not sure I was interested for a whooolllle book. If this was a lengthy article somewhere, I'd have finished and said "brilliant"! But it wasn't, and so over and over the book kind of repeats itself.

Pig escapes, pig escapes, pig eats, pig gets fat, pig eats, pig escapes, pig eats, pig eats, pig tries to escape, pig gets fat.

Don't get me wrong. Each escape and each eating episode is told entertainingly and with a very loving eye. I just got a little bored by the end.

In addition, the pig stories are punctuated by stories of Sy's life and extensive travels. It's at least as much as a memoir as it is a story of a pig. And while I cared a lot about the pig, I didn't really care so much for or about her. Not sure I exactly liked her to be honest. She irritated me in some ways that I can't really elucidate without spoiling parts of the book.

In the end, I just wasn't that moved - - by the pig or by the author. ( )

The sweet, true story of Christopher Hogwood, a pig that entered a family's life somewhat accidentally and changed them forever.

Christopher Hogwood became famous in his own area and beyond, as a character worth visiting and observing. Children especially loved to spend time with him doing "Pig Spa", a treatment time Chris loved as well.

The pig lived many years longer than his brethren in the livestock industry, revealing his intelligence, sense of humor, and wiliness.

It's a lovely story, well written. ( )