Book Review: A Dog of Many Names (a short sweet book about a dog)

A Dog of Many Names, by Douglas Green* (Circuit Breaker Books, 2020, 179 pp, $13.95) Reviewed by Skye Anderson.

If a cat has nine lives, how many lives does a dog have?

After reading A Dog Of Many Names, you may just know the answer.**

"If the Dog Dies, I Don't Want to Read the book or See the Movie"

My friends will not read any book in which the dog dies.

But what if the dog lives many lives and has many names (even Goofhead and Catnip) - some good,  some bad - and many experiences: some good, some bad - so that you are on a constant roller coaster of smiles before the suspense and then warm cuddles followed by dread anticipation?

The Plot(s)

Each iteration of the dog (possibly a German Shepherd Dog mix) has a name, except for those lives in which our dog doesn't live with a human family but on her own. She loved being born into little Angela's family even as she was the sensitive runt of the litter, until something changed but, just like a dog, we are not sure what that was.

And our rascal becomes a desert dog living on her own until she becomes Reina and lives with a Mexican family until. . . and you get the picture of an odyssey which finally culminates in an older version of our dog ready for the Rainbow Bridge.

But, wait! There's more!

Writing Style

Author Douglas Green sneaks in little snippets of gems that you have to be on the look-out for: "Angela, . . . the girl, wondering which, between the dog and her, loved the other more." (p. 21)

A few years and adventures pass in which our little dog manages to survive, sometimes on her own, and the reader gradually comes to the realization that the dog, formerly the runt of the litter, gradually learns to take care of herself yet still maintains a sense of submission and sensitivity toward humans, recognizing a change in their mood and wanting to comfort them, while at other times, somehow knowing who are the bad guys.

Green seemed so utterly fascinating that I just had to look him up. A Los Angeles movie person for 20 years, he then became a psychotherapist which may explain his warm insights into how a dog may think. Growing up, he had and lost several dogs that he loved deeply - this occurrence also following him into his adult life, giving him rich fodder for this little book of inspiring fiction. 

I also had to look up the artist who is a high-school student - Kaiden Krepela whose art work reminds you of an artist you love but who also has an interest and aptitude in engineering and science. 

*Also author of The Teachings of Shirelle

**I didn't count dog lives but the book has 12 chapters. I wonder if that means the score is Cats - 9, Dogs - 12, in which case the dogs win. Go, Dogs!