My Dog, the Meat Eater

My Dog, The Meat Eater takes place on a farm in a small, worn out city that was once a booming industrial center. The story is told from the points of view of many characters. Present and past tenses are interwoven with dream sequences in such a way as to give the novel an almost musical feel. Four high school and college aged friends work on the farm every summer with an old Puerto Rican man named Louie whom they admire very much for his strong character and wisdom. The boys discuss the events of their lives and examine their relationships with family members, dogs, and even the plants they grow. As the novel progresses, things become more and more surreal. Dreams take the place of actual events and hope takes the place of harsh reality. Through the course of the novel, the boys all grow up in one way or another. While all the time in the background, the farm beneath them silently churns and changes, eventually developing almost human characteristics.