A Dog Called Perth

All Books are second hand
Peter Martin
9781559705974

It's possible that those who have never shared their days with a dog might find this deeply personal paean to a precocious beagle somewhat twee. Chances are, however, they'll find themselves caught up in the love story, converts to the world of dogs and the people whose hearts they capture. Martin, an English-literature scholar (A Life of James Boswell), pulls out all the stops in detailing the 21 years he and his family shared with Perth, a strong-willed pet who was, if the author is to be believed, a god among dogsalways clean (with her own sweet "groggy-doggie" smell), fiercely loyal, impossibly intelligent (she learned 18 tricks in mere days) and totally trusting. Plucked as a pup from a kennel in upstate New York, the canine heroine of the story follows the Martins through teaching appointments in Ohio and Florida before accompanying them to a small village in Britain for the last half of her life.