15 dogs

Every year CBC radio hosts Canada Reads which is a panel that defends 5 books they think Canada should read. Every time I recommend the book on my blog I get the lowest number of readers for the year. I think nobody reads books anymore. I am a pleasure reader with always a book on the go.

I had read 15 Dogs which is this year’s winner. The best jokes always start with “ a man walks into a bar”. Well 15 dogs starts with two Gods sitting in a bar in Toronto and they make a wager that given human intelligence a dog would die happy. 15 dogs escape from a vet clinic and are given human intelligence. What is to follow is a sad commentary on us as humans- our jealousy, our hatred, our fear of what is different.

Humble the Poet was the defender of the book and he was brilliant. I am not a dog lover. I love cats more since they are more apt to be artists because they can survive without us. But I was attracted to this book by the opening “ A man walks into a bar”. Gets me every time.

I don’t want to ruin the ending for you if you do happen to read the book but the survivor is a poet. He has created something- language and he has loved and was loved. He has not taken a master and has remained a free spirit. There is so much in Prince the dog that I can identify with.  I ordered the second runner up today “ A Company Town”. Throw away all your self help books and read something interesting. You are your own hero!