A.’s Reviews > Dog Stories > Status Update

“Black Dog”, Penelope Lively. Enjoyed this one—a wry, sardonic take on a depressed housewife whose family rushes in to fix her problem—a black dog only she can see—rather than listen to her. 9/10.

“Black Dog”, Penelope Lively. Really enjoyed this one—a wry, satirical tone tracking a depressed housewife and a black dog only she can see. As a depression metaphor it’s beautifully handled; the real focus is on the cloying and ignorant attempts of her family to fix her problems instead of, you know, listening to her. 9/10.

“My Lord You”, James Salter. More of a mood piece with great sentences than an actual narrative. Rich people in an enclave dealing with ennui. The dog here keeps its distance and an unlikely bond—at no point truly friendly—forms. Not really a dog story tbh.

“Flight,” Thomas McGuane. A lovely and understated story of two friends on a hunt who speak little but leave nothing unsaid. When one gives detailed dog instructions to the other it takes on a very poignant weight. 8.5/10

“The Story of Two Dogs”, Doris Lessing. A chronicle of the narrator’s colonial childhood, a glorious evocation of the African veldt, and yes: a portrait of the irrepressible kinship between Bill & Jock, a bad dog and a good one who bring out the best in each other. The haunting image of Bill, his mouth bloody as he chews through the wires dug into Jock’s neck. A brutal closing sentence. 10/10

“A Yellow Dog”, Bert Harte. A camping story. No real plot. Touches on the grudging affection between a settlement and a stray. Not a fan of the overelaborate whimsy of the style.

“Barking Man”, Madison Smartt Bell. Almost derailed my finishing this book, it was so bad. Purple prose, poor framing. A boy behaves more and more like a dog, for no discernible reason. Blech.

“Dogs don’t love,” the hypnotist whispered…”They feel, yes, but they don’t love.”

“Sir Henry,” Lydia Millett. A strange, beautifully realized story about a dogwalker and his codes of attachment to the dogs he cares for. It made me gasp with laughter in its careful deployment of David Hasselhoff, but by the end I had a lump in my throat. In his line of work he saw shockingly few people who were fit for their dogs.

“Her Dog,” Tobias Wolff. Kind of like Thurber’s story—a fierce attachment to an otherwise unwanted dog. The centerpiece is an imaginary dog-owner conversation, which isn’t a note I thought Wolff had in him. If he touches my dog I’ll kill him.

“Seeing Eye,” Brad Watson. A seeing-eye dog waits at an intersection. Loved every minute of this—a genuine attempt to convey how dogs make sense of their impressions of the world around them. A neat contrast with Bradbury’s failed attempt. 9/10