Dog Love

Marjorie Garber, the director of the Center for Literary and Cultural Studies at Harvard University, has produced a book that is very much in the tradition of another recent paean to canines, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas' The Hidden Life of Dogs. Thomas' book, however, somehow failed to inform us that a 1958 TV series pilot promisingly named "Superpup" narrowly missed making it to the small screen. Or that the world "puppy" comes from the French poupee, meaning "doll." Or a host of other fascinating, and not-so-fascinating, dog lore served up by Garber. When Garber writes about the intimate, supra-verbal bond that can develop between dogs and their masters, she tells us engagingly what we already sense. When she relates anecdotes of notable courage and loyalty in dogs, she describes what most dog owners already know. And when she argues that the love and loyalty of dogs towards their human masters can serve as a model for a more just and compassionate human society, well, you just can't help but want to go along with her.