The Difficulty of Being a Dog
by By Grenier, Roger and Kaplan, Alice Yaeger (TRN)
Category: Fiction , Literary

Originally published in 1998 (Editions Gallimard, Paris) as  Les Larmes d'Ulysse.  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 Lun presenting a philosophical, psychological and personal look at the relationships between dogs and people. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)