The Dogs: A Modern Bestiary | 
 enlarge | Author: Rebecca Brown
Publisher: City Lights Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $10.95
Buy New: $2.95
You Save: $8.00 (73%)
New (15) Used (35) Collectible (1) from $1.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 660329
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 166
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5 x 0.5
ISBN: 0872863441
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780872863446
ASIN: 0872863441
Publication Date: January 1, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: 1ST Printing. 1998 Softcover Edition. Brand New, including cover. Tight binding, clean pages. 166pp. SKU #10FS3. Immediate shipping! Thanks!
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The many devotees of Rebecca Brown's compressed, lyrical prose will find The Dogs her most accomplished piece of fiction yet--a taut, beautifully sustained meditation on power, savagery, and piercing self-knowledge. Whether drawing on fairy tales, medieval Christian allegories, or the conceit of the bestiary (her precursors are Robert Coover, Angela Carter, and other wordsmiths of the fantastic), Brown manages to turn a wealth of allusions and images to her own grim purposes. Do a pack of cruel, increasingly human Dobermans inhabit the narrator's modest studio apartment, forcing her to do their bidding? And, if so, why doesn't she leave? What has happened to her self-esteem--or, in fact, to herself, her fragile body, with its pale, hairless paws, its two measly teats (so annoying, so ridiculous to the dogs), its useless teeth? A breakthrough novel for Brown that should attract--and disturb--a wide readership. --Regina Marler
Product Description
The nameless narrator of The Dogs: A Modern Bestiary lives in her studio apartment with a pack of Doberman pinchers. The dogs, led by the cruel, charismatic bitch named Miss Dog, alternate between being brutal attack animals and loyal companions, being real and otherworldly. Some chapters draw upon the ecstatic and horrifying visions of Christian mystics; others take place in the landscapes of familiar fairytales; others in the banal settings of the late-night pick-up bars or suburban picnics. The narrator uneasily inhabits these worlds until the dogs force her to take irrevocable action. Rebecca Brown is the author of other fictions, including The Terrible Girls, Annie Oakley's Girl, and The Gifts of the Body. She lives in Seattle.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Patience. December 13, 2003
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Rebecca Brown's books are challenging - they are beautiful and worth it. The bad reviews that she receives on here tell me nothing more than the writers weren't immediately gratified and lost their patience anticipating the climax or clarity spelled out for them in no uncertain terms, unaware that reading is a process in and of itself and that the most successful writers do not always tell you exactly what to think and when - some books reveal themselves slowly. Enjoy her words, the sentences, and the structure no matter how unconventional, without trying to rush her to a conclusion or a resolution because if that's all you're looking for you'll be left wanting. These are not feel good vignettes and are pretty moving. Reading Brown is an immensely satisfying experience for me.
Patience. December 13, 2003
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Rebecca Brown's books are challenging - they are beautiful and worth it. The bad reviews that she receives on here tell me nothing more than the writers weren't immediately gratified and lost their patience anticipating the climax or clarity spelled out for them in no uncertain terms, unaware that reading is a process in and of itself and that the most successful writers do not always tell you exactly what to think and when - some books reveal themselves slowly. Enjoy her words, the sentences, and the structure no matter how unconventional, without trying to rush her to a conclusion or a resolution because if that's all you're looking for you'll be left wanting. These are not feel good vignettes and are pretty moving. Reading Brown is an immensely satisfying experience for me.
The Mind Leaps, Growls and Paces July 8, 2001
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
When is a dog not a dog? When it is anything and everything else. In The Dogs, Rebecca Brown uses the totality of dogness--their bodies, habits, history, and varied relationships to human beings--as a literary tool through which to examine the depths of a tormented human mind. What struck me most about this work is that by making the dogs as real or unreal as she wanted, Brown gave herself a huge range in which to explore her subject.The first chapter of The Dogs is entitled "Dog, in which is illustrated Immanence." Immanence means "having existence only in the mind." At first, this might sound limiting, but with The Dogs, Brown shows us just how vast the mind can be.
 So close - so far July 14, 2000
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
As I began this book, I was enthralled by the writing - moving easily between the real, the fantastic, the medieval, the fairy-world. The Doberman of the title both is and isn't; is frendly, protective, sadistic leading one ever closer to understanding the phobias of the unnamed narrator.Unfortunately, from my perspective, as the Dobermans take over, the writer (not the narrator) looses control and a novel with great promise goes plop! I will perhaps try another piece by the author as there was much promise. I understand why some will enjoy (and defend) this book. But with so many books to read and so little time to read them, I can't recommend this.
 Which Rebecca Brown? May 31, 2000
3 out of 16 found this review helpful
Is this Rebecca Brown the same Rebecca Brown MD that wrote "He Came to Set the Captives Free", "Becoming a Vessel of Honor", and "Unbroken Curses".? It is important for me to have this information. Thank you.
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