The unforgettable canines gathered here include Kipling`s heroically faithful ` Garm`, Bret Harte`s irrepressible scoundrel of a `yaller dog` & the aggressively affectionate three-legged pit bull who lives in a block of flats for dogs in Jonathan Lethem`s ` Ava`s Apartment`. Here are stories which touchingly illuminate the dog`s role in the emotional lives of humans, such as Tobias Wolff`s ` Her Dog`, where a widower shares his grief for his wife with her grieving pet. Here, too, are humorous glimpses of the canine point of view, from O. Henry`s tale of a dissatisfied lapdog`s escape to P. G. Wodehouse`s cheerfully naive watchdog who simply wants everybody to get along. These writers & others
- Ray Bradbury, James Thurber & Penelope Lively among them
- offer imaginative, lyrical & empathetic portraits of man & woman`s most devoted companion.