Dogs We Love: With Jane Smiley, Edward Albee, Ann Beattie, Armistead Maupin, and Fourteen Other Dog People

Some of us just "feel incomplete without the company of a dog or two," Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee admits in this timeless tribute to beloved dogs by some of the nation's most beloved writers.
A literary "best of show," "Dogs We Love" features a pedigree lineup. Bob Shacochis endures the tribulations of remaking a one-dog into a two-dog household (and along the way offers his own "rules of the table" for humans and dogs). Jane Smiley (another Pulitzer Prize winnner) muses over her retriever's mark of genius: her relentless pursuit of the tennis ball. "New Yorker "cartoonist Danny Shanahan provides an illustrated guide on your dog's body language, including how to understand "the twitch," "the cocked-head," and "jumping up on guests" (dogs like the feel of fabrics, as it turns out!). Ann Beattie debates upgrading from "occasional dog sitter" to full-time dog owner. Arthur Yorinke recounts the dramatic rescue of his blind border collie as a hurricane prepares to batter the Nova Scotia coastline: "When it comes to dogs," he concludes, "even true stories are miracles." With a veritable dog park of sheepdogs, malamutes, papillons, bulldogs, and magnificent mutts, "Dogs We Love" is sure to include your dog, whether in breed or in spirit.
The eloquence of the authors' stories, combined with the humorous, endearing, and sometimes mysterious photographs of Robin Schwartz, makes "Dogs We Love" a captivating, charming testament to our companionship with dogs: it's a must-have for those of us who share our lives with one or more of America's 75 million dogs, and whose ears know no sweeter music than the barking of our own.