INSIDE OF A DOG: an opinionated annotated biblidography, under construction

“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”  Groucho Marx

Inside of a Dog, Alexandra Horowitz-  First of all, I applaud Horowitz for her choice of title—though I am sure I thought of stealing it first.  Ethologist Horowitz reviews scientific evidence on the cognitive and perceptual world of dogs, their senses, social behavior, etc., to reach new understandings about the canine umwelt (as she terms it- "world view").  Nicely written accounts of research by Horowitz herself and many others are interspersed with lovely passages that look like excerpts from a journal of close observations of her own dog.  Smart and thought-provoking.

Bones Would Rain From the Sky, Suzanne Clothier-  Another great title.  By turns pragmatic and philosophical/spiritual, a lovely meditation on an interspecies relationship and training approach grounded in respect. Look for a passage in which gutsy Clothier confronts abusiveness of harsh training methods promoted by Vicki Hearne.  She reviews an essay in Hearne’s Adam’s Task in which the author gloats about subjecting her dog to near-drowning as a “cure” for hole-digging.  (Think water-boarding.)  Mysteriously, Clothier seems to have published no other full-length books.  She is on the internet.


Rin Tin Tin the life and the legend- Susan Orlean.  By the author of another book about obsession, The Orchid Thief (inspiration for the film 'Adaptation'). Here, Orlean weaves together biography, social history (of America and Europe in the first decades of the 20th century; of early responses to the movies, and of the changing relationship of humans to dogs), and meditations upon interspecies love and loss, canine and human mortality, and the evanescence of history.  

Bandit: Dossier of a Dangerous Dog- Vicki Hearne.  Brilliant, controversial, and dead too young, philosopher and dog trainer Hearne researched the furor over pit bulls and found some intriguing, highly quotable things reflected in statistics.  The book is unique in touching upon the much-ignored topics of how class and race intersect with cultural attitudes about dogs. 

The Other End of the Leash- Patricia McConnell.  First full-length book by behavioral scientist and dog trainer, until recently long a regular columnist for Bark.  McConnell is always intelligent, insightful, down-to-earth, touchingly candid about her own experiences, and often quite funny.  In this book, she touches on differences between canine and human assumptions about the world.  Her series of photos of dogs enduring the embraces of their peeps is priceless.

For the Love of a Dog- Patricia McConnell.  McConnell affirms the state of being "in love" - not just with dogs in general, but with a particular dog.  Without either pathologizing or descending into sentimental anthropomorphic projection, she discusses the possible reasons for the power of such bonds, and their value in human lives.  I found this book a little in need of trimming, but loved it for McConnell's characteristic blend of smarts, warmth, and compassion.

The Culture Clash- Jean Donaldson.  A classic widely admired among dog training and animal behaviorist professionals.  Donaldson gives strong arguments for a training approach resting entirely upon positive reinforcement and behavioral shaping.  Step-by-step instructions for using clicker training for specific tasks, like getting your dog to "play fair" in games of fetch.  Smart, passionate and often very funny, but probably lost wider readership due to overly dense, sometimes overly technical language.  See the trenchantly witty page on dominance theory.  

The Truth about Dogs-  Stephen Budiansky.  Science journalist Budiansky gives us a well-written and highly readable, often witty exploration of dog evolution, cognition, and genetics-- and of their relationship to us two-leggers.

Dog Years- Mark Doty. Poet, academic and memoirist recounts the period following the death of his longtime partner from AIDS.  Two cherished dogs also die during the course of the story.  Doty speaks with wisdom and candor about grief, depression, and the special quality of the canine-human bond.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle-  David Wroblewsky.  Hamlet-inspired first novel, about a mute boy and a group of dogs.  I read little fiction, and I generally find ways of avoiding any story or book or movie in which a dog dies.  I slipped up, and furthermore, I slipped up bigtime just after the death of the canine love of my life, reading both this and Mark Doty’s Dog Years in a few days.  I do not recommend doing that, but I do recommend this book.  The prose is lovely, with deft depiction of places and people and dogs.  Foreshadowing is perhaps a bit heavyhanded, but does prepare one a little for the experience of moving from foreboding to devastation.  That said… the portrayal of dogs as unique personalities, the meditations upon interspecies relationship, and the presence of the matriarchal dog Almondine as the moral center of the book—all make this a book that may stay with you for a long time after reading it.  I predict there will be dogs and children named Almondine.

My Dog Tulip- J.R. Ackerley.  Gay British writer’s 1956 memoir of how a dog changed his priorities.  Basis of a 2009 animated film adaptation with the same title.

We Think the World of You- J.R. Ackerley.  Fictionalized version of the first part of the Tulip memoir, adapted into the 1988 film of the same name, starring Alan Bates.  


Paws and Reflect- exploring the bond between gay men and their dogs, edited by Neil Plakcy and Sharon Sakson.  An uneven collection that does not remotely fulfill the promise of the subtitle: all of the writers are gay men, but none explores or illustrates anything specific to gay men and their dogs. Missing are the better-known writers (Mark Doty, Augusten Burroughs, Bob Morris and Mat Zucker, among others) who have written such pieces, although there is a piece by Edward Albee. 
Mostly, these are the kind of affectionate, detail-heavy memoirs of loved dogs that you'll hear at any dog park.  The writing is in most cases unexceptional, but all of the contributors clearly share a feeling that dogs are important, and that their own dogs are exceptional.  Mostly not great literature, but fine for spending some time in the company of people who share our love of dogs.

The Company of Dogs- edited by Michael J Rosen.

Dog People/ Writers and Artists on Canine Companionship- edited by Michael J Rosen.

Two books with wonderful writing, mostly nonfiction personal narratives, and some photographs.  Highly recommended.  Profits go to support  the Company of Animals Fund, which gives grants to humane agencies.


Unleashed/poems by writers' dogs- edited by Amy Hempel and Jim Shepard.  Poems by 64 well-known writers about important dogs in their lives, in all but one instance written from the perspective of the dog.  Most are accompanied by photos of the dogs with their peeps.  In less skilled hands, this could have been an invitation to cloying or maudlin sentimentality or cutesiness; but this volume is full of beauty and humor and insight.  Another book contributing to the Company of Animals Fund.

The Dog Observed/ Photographs 1844-1988- edited by Ruth Silverman.  140 years of photos of dogs from all over the world, including professional works and anonymous snapshots. 

Mondo Canine- Jon Winokur.  A miscellaneous compendium of very short narratives, quotable quotes, and pictures.  Appears to be a coffee table book compiled with little thought, probably with the aid of numerous subcontractors.  Suffers from a lack of citations and lack of cohesiveness. Winokur has made some mysterious choices, e.g. quoting without comment or context from people known for their questionable training methods widely considered abusive. Most other material is harmless, and the book could provide the kind of unchallenging time-filling stuff we enjoy when confined to a hospital bed.

What the Dogs Have Taught Me- Merrill Markoe.  Humorous essays about life with dogs.  Markoe is an extremely funny woman of my generation, famously the disgruntled long-ago exgf of David Letterman.  She has written a couple of novels that are also much about dogs and women, but she’s far better as a (more or less) nonfiction essayist of the canine-centered domestic scene.

Dog Love-  Marjorie Garber. English professor and cultural commentator Garber gathers together a nearly exhaustive compendium of dog lore, primarily from literature, biography and history.  While the masses of material from diverse sources (testament to what can be accomplished with a small army of grad students) present plenty of food for thought, what's missing is synthesis into any unifying themes, ideas, or hypotheses.  Definitely worth a read, however.  

Good Dog.  Stay.- Anna Quindlen.  It seems possible that this slender volume was conceived as a coffee table book, but I don’t care.  And though it turned out (as I should have guessed from the title) to be much about doggie mortality, I forgive it, sort of.  Beautiful and insightful.

Pack of Two- Caroline Knapp.  Part personal narrative, part journalistic investigation, an exploration of the power of the human/canine bond.  Raw honesty, provocative inquiries, moving affirmation for the dog-besotted.  Knapp unfortunately died of cancer at age 42.  


Let's Take the Long Way Home- Gail Caldwell.  Memoir by Caroline Knapp's best friend, about their bond built upon several commonalities (both were successful professional writers, and both were recovering alcoholics) and a mutual love of dogs.  Much about friendship, and the varieties of intimacy.  Beautifully written.

Dog is my Co-pilot- editors of Bark.  A collection of short nonfiction dog-focused personal narratives by many well-known writers who have graced the pages of Bark Magazine, including Maxine Kumin, Steve Kuusisto, Ann Patchett, and Rick Bass.  Pretty much perfect.

Howl- editors of Bark.  Another compendium from Bark, this time very short pieces with an emphasis on humor: Merrill Markoe, William Wegman, Pam Houston, Kinky Friedman, Dave Barry, and many others.  Great fun.

Flush- Virginia Woolf.  One of Woolf’s lightest, and surely her shortest novel, a “memoir” narrated by Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s dog.

Travels with Charlie- John Steinbeck.

Travels with Lizbeth- Larry Eighner. Middle-aged, overweight gay porn writer and former social services employee Eighner spends two years homeless, mostly in the urban Southwest, with his beloved black Lab, Lizbeth.  Quirky, often sharply observed meditations on the social services bureaucracy and society generally, a protocol for dumpster diving, and gentlemanly codes of behavior for some sketchy milieus.  A constant is his moving devotion to his dog under the most difficult of circumstances.  Eighner continued as Lizbeth’s guardian and loyal best friend until her death at age 12.  

Faces- Vita Sackville-West and Laelia Goehr.  Full page closeup photos of dog breeds, with short facing essays by West, famous as a lover of Virginia Woolf but publishing this in 1961, long after Woolf’s death.  Opinionated, digressive, personal, highly anthropomorphizing, and charming.

Woman’s Best Friend- edited by Megan McMorris- extremely uneven and disappointing collection.  It would be nice to have a book illuminating the relationship between women and dogs.  This is not that book.  The contributors are nearly all demographically similar (white, upper-middle-class, married, 20- to young 30-something, with young children; a significant percentage work for the same handful of fitness magazines).  Quality of writing is inconsistent. A few contributions lack even any evident affection for dogs.  A small handful of stories are worth reading; look for it at the library.


-not to be confused with:


Woman's Best Friend- a celebration of dogs and their women- edited by Barbara Cohen and Louise Taylor.  A nice coffee table book, short written pieces (all in first person, but have the look of being interview-based or highly edited) with facing-page photos.  Photos are credited to a large number of photographers.  All text and photos are fine, if few are outstanding.  A few of the women featured are recognizable as dog-involved writers and other professionals.   


Snippets:

Sherman Alexie’s several retellings of the wrenching very short story of his childhood dog possibly named Oscar, who had to be shot because no one in the family could afford a vet. See The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.

Mary Oliver’s numerous poems about her dogs, perfect vehicles for her meditations upon nature and mortality.

Periodicals: 

Bark- some 20 years old now, this has been described as "the New Yorker for dog lovers".  A host of well-known writers and artists are represented.  Every issue contains fiction, nonfiction, art, photography, and news.  Updates on scientific perspectives, training issues, food and nutrition, medical issues.  There is also a massive web site, and most articles from the last several years of the magazine are available digitally.  

Movies:

It's hard for a cinephile and dog lover to find movies that are artistically respectable and that do not rely upon either sugary sentimentality, silly humor, or easily-manipulated three-hanky tales of dog death.  
The very best film with a dog in a pivotal role is an old classic, Umberto D, 1952, by Italian neorealist director Vittorio De Sica.  The titular character is an old man struggling with poverty and mounting despair, while trying to take care of not only himself but his beloved small dog.  Lovely, realistic depiction of an interspecies relationship.
A 2008 film, Wendy and Lucy, likewise gives us a realistic portrait of a dog/human relationship affected by poverty.  This time the human protagonist is a young homeless woman, played by Michelle Williams.  The low-budget film directed by Kelly Reichardt was critically well-received.  
Amores Perros, a larger-budget 2000 film by Mexican director Inarritu, deservedly received a good deal of acclaim.  The film has been titled in English "Love is a Bitch", but the director has said that this is a mistranslation.  Three interlocked stories are tales of violence and of dog/human love bonds.  Opening scenes with graphic and violent dog fighting may be difficult; in fact, on my first viewing I stopped the movie and only returned to it 8 years later.  I still had to leave the room a couple of times.  However, the point of view of the film is definitely NOT pro-violence of any kind.  Though rationally I know that in most films I'm likely to encounter, all violence is simulated, I found it enormously helpful and detoxifying to read descriptions after the fact of how the violence in this film was simulated.  The dogs shown "fighting" were actually playing, they wore see-through muzzles just in case anybody got carried away, ferocious sound effects were added on, and editing did the rest.  
The film is powerful and complex, definitely worth at least one viewing.
We Think the World of You- 1988 British film starring Alan Bates, based on the earlier part of the JR Ackerley memoir My Dog Tulip.  Lovely understated film about the healing power of love for a dog.
In 2009, this was followed up by My Dog Tulip, a quirky animated film of the whole story from the memoir by the same name.  The script is very faithful to the book, with the narrator (Ackerley) voiced by Christopher Plummer.  There's a good deal of fairly frank discussion and cartoon depiction of assorted biological functions, and some indescribable sequences in which crudely-drawn dog/human hybrids behave doggishly... never mind, you just have to see it.  The story focuses on the happy early period of Ackerley's 15 year relationship with this, his first and last dog and only friend.