Because “grieving for an animal can be a pretty lonely place,” Barbara Abercrombie created this joyful and poignant, funny and smart collection of commiseration. Readers meet the cat who liked to fish tampon tubes out of the trash and then appear “jauntily holding one in his mouth as if smoking a cigarette,” the dog who demanded down pillows, and even a coyote who became part of the family. The sometimes surprising things animals add to a household — and how their loss reverberates — are highlighted, and because these are such fine writers, each essay also reveals larger truths about life. Whether the reader is grieving a loss, cherishing a current companion, or simply relishing a tale well told, the message is clear: it is better to have loved and lost...