A Dog's Life

Once upon a time in Provence, Peter Mayle adopted a dog of uncertain origins and dubious hunting skills and gave him a name--Boy. Now he gives this canny canine a voice in an irresistible "memoir" that proves that the best vantage point for observing life may well be on all fours.

As Boy recounts his progress from an overcrowded maternal bosom to unchallenged mastery of the Mayle household, he tells us why dogs are drawn to humans ("our most convenient support system") and chickens ("that happy combination of sport and nourishment"). We share in his amorous dalliances, his run-ins with French plumbers and cats, and in the tidbits (both conversational and edible) of his owners' dinner parties. Enhanced by fifty-nine splendidly whimsical drawings by Edward Koren, A Dog's Life gives us all the delights we expect from any book by Peter Mayle--pedigree prose, biting wit, and a keen nose for the fragrance of civilization--together with the insouciant wisdom of which only a dog (and probably only Peter Mayle's dog) is capable.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 05/28/1996
ISBN: 9780679762676
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.94h x 5.30w x 0.56d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 04/29/1996