Like the author’s other books, this, too, is a miscellany. However, unlike all the others, Two Yellow Lab Puppies and an Old Guy aims at humor, even in the discussions that definitely are intended as edification for the reader. Readers might smile, maybe even laugh, at the observations, questions, and conclusions of the most erudite puppies ever to exist. How Do You Know If What You Do Is Right? is a fascinating discussion between Shaker, the male pup, and the old guy. The text contains sixteen discussions of various subjects.
Besides the subject matter is the entertaining back and forth between Shaker and Emmy, his sister. The author skillfully delineates them as quite different personalities. Shaker is no dummy, of course, but his interests and values are often at odds with his sister’s. Emmy is not a prude, but she is very formal and strongly opinionated about what is the proper way to behave and to speak, among other things. Despite the quarrelling, the author never allows the reader to think anything other than they dearly love each other.
About the Author
H. G. Hastings-Duffield is a retired Professor Emeritus of English language, literature and aesthetics from Central Michigan University. He taught for thirty-five years and retired in 1997.
Two Yellow Lab Puppies is his eighteenth book since 1965. He has written miscellanies about American societal issues (such as racism and prejudice), religion (such as Mormonism and Shakerism), and American values (such as human sexuality). He also founded The Journal of Shaker Studies and acted as editor and author. In 2000, he published a scholarly work on Shakers titled Historical Dictionary of the Shakers, and in 2011 he published a novel derived from the life of an actual Shaker, titled Reuben’s Tale: of Loves, Truths, and Deceptions.
Currently, Hastings-Duffield is working on a biographical narrative about a man whose mind has declined into chronic depression. He struggles to understand why by seeking help from various sources.
