Just read it today, and it was real good. The scene with the cat was one of the most arresting images I’ve ever read, even thought it shamelessly capitalized on this weird modern tendency to oversentimentalize animals. (Oh, he guns down people in cold blood, explodes buildings with no thought for who might be around, and indulges in high-speed car chases that leave innocent families wrecked on the side of the road….but he wept over his dog so he must be an alright guy.)

What is it with Americans and animals? I don’t know much about other countries, so maybe it’s even worse there, but I can’t get over the way that people seem to be able to connect more, on an emotional level, with the inhuman beasts they keep trapped within their home, shackled to them by bonds of need, than with the human beings around them. I mean, you see a story online about someone getting shot, and you shrug it off. But if you see a story about a puppy getting shot, suddenly it’s a big tearjerker.

I mean, cmon, let’s say that people are imagining that that puppy is their puppy. Well if a dude gets shot, why can’t you imagine that he’s your own fuck-up friend? What’s difficult about that?

Now, I love animals, including my cat and dog. But sometimes I just have this desire to kick people’s pets.