On the heels of the huge success of John Grogan#'s #“Marley and Me,” his very enjoyable book about his neurotic dog Marley and the effect it had on John#'s life, comes Sy Montgomery's “The Good Good Pig: the extraordinary life of Christopher Hogwood.”

I had heard about this book a few months ago, and now it is on several summer must-read lists, so I just had to read it. Montgomery is a naturalist and author who had previously written a book called #“Walking with the Great Apes,” #about her adventures with such naturalists as Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall. Montgomery enjoyed going on adventures to exciting, remote places and writing about them.

She lives in a small town in New Hampshire with her husband, Howard, also an author. They met as students at Syracuse University, where they both worked on the Daily Orange newspaper. They enjoyed their country home and had animals, including a dog and some chickens, whom they referred to as #“the ladies#.” On one of the many trips to visit their neighbors to play with their pigs, they fell in love with the sickly runt of the litter and took him home.

He was named Christopher Hogwood, after a famous musical conductor. Most pigs are raised to be slaughtered, and so they only lived to be six months old. Sy and Howard wanted to see how long a pig could actually live, and so Chris became a part of their family.

They built him a pen in the barn and created an exercise area. Since Howard and Sy were vegetarians, Chris would be as well.

Neighbors were recruited to save their table scraps and soon a local restaurant got in on the action as well. Chris ate very, very well, and it was even discovered that he enjoyed an occasional beer.

Pigs are intelligent creatures, and Christopher was no different. He figured out how to regularly escape from his pen, and it was not unusual to receive a phone call from a neighbor saying that Chris was wandering through their property, rooting through their lettuce garden.

Chris became very popular with the locals, especially the children. He was very gentle with children, allowing them to rub his belly. A single mother with two young daughters moved next door, and Sy, who had no children, became very close to the young girls. They would bake cookies together and came up with an idea called Pig Spa.

Pig Spa involved giving Chris a beauty treatment. Children were invited to come and bathe Chris and rub him with lotion to keep his skin soft. (Did you know that pig skin is remarkably similar to human skin?) His skin was brushed and a special lotion was rubbed into his hooves to make them healthy and shiny. It became a popular ritual, with children from all over participating. Chris enjoyed the Pig Spa as much as the children.

Chris became famous, and he even got a job as a model for a greeting card line. Unfortunately, Chris did not want to put on a birthday hat for the photos, although he did like wearing the oversize sunglasses.

After many unsuccessful attempts, including Chris eating the birthday cake to be used a prop for the photo, the only photo that worked was the sunglasses picture, which became Sy and Howard#'s Christmas card. Every year after that, friends received a photo of Chris on a Christmas card.

Newspaper and television stories were done about Chris and he became famous all across New Hampshire. He also became bigger and bigger, eventually tipping the scales at about 750 pounds. As he became older, Chris had medical problems. His joints were stressed from all the weight and he had difficulty walking. It became evident that Chris had to go on a diet.

Sy and Howard loved their animals, but they understood that they were animals and not people, something many people tend to forget.

Chris' popularity brought many new friends into their lives, and for that they were grateful. Raising Chris taught them many things about themselves.

Montgomery is a delightful writer, and her story of raising Christopher Hogwood is funny and touching. (One word of caution though: after reading #“The Good, Good Pig,” you may want to go right out and buy a pig.) Anyone who loves animals will thoroughly enjoy the story of Christopher Hogwood; he is sort of like a real-life Arnold Ziffel (Green Acres, anyone?). It will surely be one of the most popular summer books this year. I give it five stars.

Note to readers: This month#'s Oprah Magazine has a big section on books, with lots of great articles about the joys of reading, as well as suggestions for your summer reading list.

Auburn native Diane La Rue's

lifelong goal is to read a book a week. If you have suggestions, e-mail her at laruediane2000@yahoo.com