Dog Stories
Diana Secker Tesdell (editor)
Everyman’s Pocket Classic (Pocket), Oct 5 2010, $15.00
ISBN: 9780307593979
This twenty short stories anthology focuses on the relationship between canines and their best friends, humans. The entries include a who’s who of literature going back to the nineteenth century (but no Jack London). All the contributions are well written as they range the pack of doggy tales of the tails. O’Henry provides his usual twisting story “Memoirs of a Yellow Dog” as does Bret Harte in his “Yellow Dog”; though the settings are quite far apart. Fans will enjoy meeting the three-legged pit bull Ava who owns “Ava’s Apartment” (by Jonathan Lethem) or encountering P. G. Wodehouse’s “The Mixer” who just wants everyone to get along together while unable to comprehend why not. Whether it is the Case of the “Black Dog” by Penelope Lively or the amusing whimsical James Thurber’s “Penelope Has Her Day”, canine lovers (and fans of short stories in general) will relish reading tales like Mark Twain’s “A Dog’s Day” and a wonderful entry by Ray Bradbury. Dog Stories is a strong entertaining compilation as Groucho once mused: “Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read”; this enjoyable collection combines dog and book.
Harriet Klausner
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