The Art of Racing in the Rain Chapters 26-30 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Just when we thought this book wouldn't be about racing anymore, it is.
  • Winter turns into spring, and Denny gets an opportunity to work for a racing school, taking cars around the track.
  • Yay, some good news. Finally.
  • Denny takes a lap around the track for himself, and then invites Enzo to take a ride with him.
  • If Enzo could talk, his response would be, "Finally."
  • That was our response, too.
  • Enzo and Denny do a few laps, faster, then faster, and then faster still.
  • In case we didn't make it clear, they're going pretty darn fast.
  • Eight months after Eve's diagnosis, our protagonists have a party to celebrate "the first day [she is] not dead" (27.12).
  • That doesn't sound ominous at all, does it?
  • That night, Enzo has a dream that Eve is passing away, her soul leaving her body and escaping the pain and terror of her illness.
  • Enzo's dream comes true.
  • Yikes.
  • The next day, before Denny finds out about Eve, he takes Enzo for a walk in the park and makes plans for bringing Eve and Zoë home.
  • Oh, Denny. No. You're killing us, man.
  • Oops, bad choice of words.
  • Then Denny finds out about Eve.
  • In a moment of emotion, Enzo runs into the forest and eats a squirrel as an expression of his pain (cue another collective eww), and then takes a nap in the bushes.
  • Denny finds Enzo later and takes him home, where Enzo sleeps again and dreams of catching crows.
  • Denny takes Enzo to see Zoë and the Twins, where they argue about who should have custody of Zoë.
  • Great, like Denny doesn't have enough to deal with right now.
  • Maxwell and Trish believe that they would be able to provide more stability for Zoë. They also believe that Denny was never good for Eve.
  • Now the gloves are coming off.
  • Maxwell also tells Denny that if he had forced Eve to go to the doctor she might still be alive.
  • Maxwell then hands Denny an envelope that clearly contains a custody suit.
  • No, not that kind of suit, a lawsuit.
  • Let the throw-down begin.
  • Enzo, we know you love racing, but please stop breaking the fourth wall when things get juicy. No? Well, we tried.
  • This is worse than stopping a show on a cliffhanger.
  • Enzo pauses the narrative again to tell us that drivers have to prove themselves to be better than their competition in order to stay ahead.
  • Drivers also have to make sure they understand their competitors' movements—and make judgments accordingly.
  • Sounds like Denny could use this advice right about now. But, as a professional racer, we think he's got this in the bag.