num_pages: 272
description: And a Dog Called Fig is the story of one writers life with dogs (including a frisky new puppy) how they are uniquely ideal companions for building a creative life and some delightful tales about dogs and their famous writersInto my writer's isolation will come a dog to sit beside my chair or to lie on the couch while I work to force me outside for a walk and suddenly although still lonely this writer will have a companion.An artists solitude is a sacred space one to be guarded from the chaos of the world where the sparks of inspiration can be kindled into fires of creation. But within this quiet also lie loneliness self-doubt the danger of collapsing too far inward.An artist needs a familiar a companion with emotional intelligence innate curiosity an enthusiasm for the world beyond but also the capacity to rest contentedly for many hours. What an artist needs Helen Humphreys would say is a dog.And a Dog Called Fig is a memoir of the writing life told through the dogs Humphreys has lived with and loved over a lifetime including Fig her new Vizsla puppy. Interspersed are stories of other writers and their own irreplaceable Virginia Woolf and Grizzle Gertrude Stein and Basket Thomas Hardy and Wessexwho walked the dining table at dinner parties taking whatever he likedand many more.A love song to the dogs who come into our lives and all that they bringsorrow mayhem reflection joythis is a book about steadfast friendship and loss creativity and craft and the restorative powers of nature. Every work of art is different; so too is every dog with distinctive needs and lessons. And if we let them guide us they will show us many worlds we would otherwise miss.Includes Black-and-White Photographs
language: English
title: And a Dog Called Fig: Solitude, Connection, the Writing Life
publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux