The Difficulty of Being a Dog - by Roger Grenier (Paperback)

About the Book

Raising the subject of dogs to a higher plane, this book features 43 lovingly crafted vignettes introducing readers to dogs real and literary, famous and reviled, and offers a sense of what makes our relationships with them so meaningful.

Book Synopsis

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 Back Cover

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 forty-three 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 André Gide, whose diary records his bemusement at his dog's propensity to mount his ancient cat, Grenier reveals how dogs have inspired writers.

Grenier also surveys the opinions, writings, and experiences of men and women throughout history for clues to the mysterious symbiosis between people and dogs. He introduces us to Freud's chow Lün, 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. We learn of the dog who shared Napoleon's bed and of the dogs collected and deported from the city of Constantinople in 1910, sent to a desert island without food or water. 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 literary companion for dog lovers and the perfect dog book for literature lovers.

Review Quotes

"A very superior commonplace book of canine characteristics, the mixture of Grenier's own anecdotes with quotations from other intellectuals making it far from the average gift-shop item--as if Roland Barthes had opted for domestic animals rather than for fashion or photography."--John Stokes "Times Literary Supplement"

"An alluring book full of philosophical and literary musings. Not since Vicki Hearne's Adam's Task have I found a book about dogs so meaningful to me. I enjoyed it immensely."--William Wegman

"Beautifully written . . . 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 . . . raises the subject to a higher plane. A gem."-- "Library Journal (starred review)"

"Literate, light, and lighthearted."--Richard Bernstein "New York Times"

"To call this magnificent work a book about dogs is to shortchange it; it is about a delicate and sensitive relationship between different kinds of living beings--dogs and ourselves. Though it looks like a small book, its appearance is deceiving, because it is in fact huge and multidimensional. It will be my Christmas gift to all my favorite people."--Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of "The Hidden Life of Dogs"

"With whimsical humor and mordant wit, Grenier applies a broad and deep knowledge of literary dog lovers from Homer to Flaubert. . . . This slim volume will make lovers both of literature and canines sit up and take notice."-- "Publisher Weekly"

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.