Glennon Doyle hits the ground running in her latest book Untamed with a story of the caged cheetah Tabitha. Tabitha has been raised in captivity and her best friend is a Labrador named Minnie. As they watch Tabitha and Minnie perform, Doyle is captivated. She senses the ‘wild’ in Tabitha.
“I nodded at Tish and kept my eyes on Tabitha as she stalked. I wished I could ask her, ‘What’s happening inside you right now?’
I knew what she’d tell me. She’d say, ‘Something’s off about my life. I feel restless and frustrated. I have this hunch that everything was supposed to be more beautiful than this. I imagine fence-less, wide-open savannas. I want to run and hunt and kill. I want to sleep under an ink-black, silent sky filled with stars. It’s all so real I can taste it.’
Then she’d look back at the cage, the only home she’s ever known. She’d look at the smiling zookeepers, the bored spectators, and the bouncing, begging best friend, the Lab.
She’d sigh and say, ‘I should be grateful. I have a good enough life here. It’s crazy to long for what doesn’t even exist.’
I’d say:
Tabitha, you are not crazy.
You are a goddamn cheetah.”
I read this book in one sitting, highlighter in hand, and journal filled with notes. Multiple times, I said out-loud, “Yes!” Doyle has a talent for putting into words that which we didn’t know we knew – the innermost thoughts of our hearts and spirits. Untamed is a gift.
In Untamed, Doyle picks up where Love Warrior left off, but the style is vastly different – written in shorter, essay-style chapters. The essays are not in chronological order, but it feels natural to follow where they lead. I thoroughly enjoyed the behind-the-scenes story of meeting, falling in love with, and marrying Abby Wambach. I’ve said it before, I love love. What else can I say?
Man or woman, if you want to feel inspired and empowered, if you want to unleash your own inner goddamn cheetah, pick up Untamed. You’ll never be the same.
P.S. Can we all just admit that this is the most gorgeous book cover we have ever seen?