The Exile Book of Canadian Dog Stories

Spanning from the 1800s to 2005, and featuring exceptional short stories from 28 of Canada’s most prominent fiction writers, this unique anthology explores the nature of the human-dog bond through writing from both the nation’s earliest storytellers-such as Ernest Thompson Seton, L. M. Montgomery, and Stephen Leacock-and a younger generation that includes Lynn Coady and Matt Shaw. Not simply sentimental tales about noble dogs doing heroic deeds, these stories represent the rich, complex, and mysterious bond between dogs and humans. Adventure and drama, heartfelt encounters and nostalgia, sharp-edged satire, and even fantasy make up the genres in this memorable collection, chosen by a critically acclaimed fiction writer who has sought essential reading that will appeal to dog lovers of every persuasion. There are city pets, country dogs, childhood companions, as well as a strange stone-dog statue, all ready to entertain and haunt readers, reminding them of their own beloved dogs, past and present. By way of Newfoundland to British Columbia-with a few stops in Europe, too-dogs of all breeds, shapes, and sizes inhabit these pages, showing what Canadians have sometimes made of their dogs, and what they’ve made of their people in return.