From Publishers Weekly
What is a dog? In the hands of French fiction writer, essayist and quintessential dog lover Grenier (Another November), the canine emerges over the course of its all too brief life as a faithful and loving companion, a protection against loneliness and life's insults, a connoisseur of foul odors and a playmate always ready to join its owner in cavorting like a fool. In this collection of several dozen delightful and poignant anecdotal pieces, he ranges over our 12,000-year relationship with dogs, from those who appeared in Greek and Roman mythologyDlike the three-headed Cerberus, who guarded the gates of HellDto the dogs that appear in our dreams (in this case, Grenier's dreams of his own old dog, Ulysses). Probing the dark side of the human-dog bond, Grenier sensitively observes how, at times, we humans have been less than faithful to our canine friends, giving rise to such sayings as, "'He died like a dog.'" With whimsical humor and mordant wit, he applies a broad and deep knowledge of literary dog lovers from Homer to Flaubert and Faulkner, elaborating not only on their insights into dog-love and hate but also on what these writers' revelations tell us about ourselves. (Dec.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
The forty-three lovingly crafted vignettes within The Difficulty of Being a Dog dig elegantly to the center of a long, mysterious, and often intense relationship: that between human beings and dogs. In doing so, Roger Grenier introduces us to dogs real and literary, famous and reviled--from Ulysses's Argos to Freud's Lün to the hundreds of dogs exiled from Constantinople in 1910 and deposited on a desert island--and gives us a sense of what makes our relationships with them so meaningful.





From the Inside Flap
The forty-three lovingly crafted vignettes within The Difficulty of Being a Dog dig elegantly to the center of a long, mysterious, and often intense relationship: that between human beings and dogs. In doing so, Roger Grenier introduces us to dogs real and literary, famous and reviled--from Ulysses's Argos to Freud's Lün to the hundreds of dogs exiled from Constantinople in 1910 and deposited on a desert island--and gives us a sense of what makes our relationships with them so meaningful.





About the Author
Roger Grenier, an editor at Éditions Gallimard, has published over thirty novels, short storied, and literary essays and is the recipient of numerous prizes, including the Grand Prix de Littéature de l'Académie Française.

Alice Kaplan is the author of French Lessons and The Collaborator, both published by the University of Chicago Press. She also translated Gremier's novel Another Novemeber.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

It's not always easy to be a dog—to be a companion to those strange human animals, as Roger Grenier shows us on this literary dog walk. In some fifty self-contained and lovingly crafted vignettes, esteemed French author Grenier visits the great dogs of history and legend, beginning at the beginning, with Ulysses and his dog, Argos, the only creature to recognize him after years of absence. From Virginia Woolf, who became the self-appointed biographer of Flush, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's cocker spaniel, to Andr￯﾿ﾽ Gide, whose diary records his bemusement at his dog's propensity to mount his ancient cat, Grenier reveals how dogs have inspired writers. He introduces us to Freud's chow L￯﾿ﾽn, who was able to make him understand he was about to die; to Fala, FDR's scottish terrier, who now has his own statue in Washington; and to Michael and Jerry, the heroes of Jack London's novels. Along the way, Grenier tells us about a few of the dogs who have occupied his own life and heart. Though the rapport between dogs and people remains a mystery, it is also, for him, the source of the purest form of love.

Grenier's poetic sense of the streets of Paris, his artful use of literary quotation, and his humor and humanity made The Difficulty of Being a Dog an immediate bestseller in France. "A pet is a protection against life's insults, a defense against the world," writes Grenier. His book reminds us on every page of that sentiment, making it the perfect gift for any dog lover or for those who might not love dogs enough. Yet.

About the Author: Roger Grenier has published over thirty novels, short stories, and literary essays and the recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the Grand Prix de Littérature de l'Académie Franaise. Alice Kaplan is the author of French Lessons and The Collaborator, both published by the University of Chicago Press. She also translated Grenier's novel Another November.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

What is a dog? In the hands of French fiction writer, essayist and quintessential dog lover Grenier (Another November), the canine emerges over the course of its all too brief life as a faithful and loving companion, a protection against loneliness and life's insults, a connoisseur of foul odors and a playmate always ready to join its owner in cavorting like a fool. In this collection of several dozen delightful and poignant anecdotal pieces, he ranges over our 12,000-year relationship with dogs, from those who appeared in Greek and Roman mythology--like the three-headed Cerberus, who guarded the gates of Hell--to the dogs that appear in our dreams (in this case, Grenier's dreams of his own old dog, Ulysses). Probing the dark side of the human-dog bond, Grenier sensitively observes how, at times, we humans have been less than faithful to our canine friends, giving rise to such sayings as, "'He died like a dog.'" With whimsical humor and mordant wit, he applies a broad and deep knowledge of literary dog lovers from Homer to Flaubert and Faulkner, elaborating not only on their insights into dog-love and hate but also on what these writers' revelations tell us about ourselves. (Dec.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The author of more than 30 books and one of France's most distinguished men of letters, Grenier provides the literate dog lover with an exploration of the human-canine relationship. In 43 vignettes, he attempts to explain why dogs and humans bond, demonstrating that dogs in literature are often metaphors for the human condition. His sources are some of the world's greatest thinkers and writers: Rousseau, Baudelaire, Kafka, Chekhov, Orwell, Flaubert, Turgenev, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The dogs mentioned are no less significant: FDR's Fala, Napoleon's Mumu, Charlie Chaplin's Scraps, Ulysses's Argos, Freud's Liu, and the author's own dog. This slim book is beautifully written, and the prose flows like poetry. The market has been flooded with a plethora of popularly written books attempting to explain canines and why people love them, yet this book, a best seller in France, raises the subject to a higher plane. A gem, it is recommended for public and college libraries alike.--Florence Scarinci, formerly with Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews

Originally published in 1998 (Editions Gallimard, Paris) as In 43 vignettes (translated here by Alic Kaplan), French writer Grenier shares his thoughts on how dogs inspire people and the joys and sorrows of having, or being, man's best friend. He walks us through the lives of dogs owned by famous people, beginning with Ulysses's dog Argos and Virginia Woolf's Flush, to Fala, owned by FDR, and Freud's Lunpresenting a philosophical, psychological and personal look at the relationships between dogs and people. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Richard Bernstein