George P. Pelecanos

I'm a huge fan of Pelecanos' work, have lived in the DC area for many years, and am a dog lover, so this book immediately drew me in. It's a remarkable work that is distinct from his other work but will seem very familiar to Pelecanos' long-time readers. This is a novella told from a dog's perspective. That could have been silly or twee, but because Pelecanos is such a strong writer, it's not. This is a vibrant, suspenseful, and, yes, poignant, story about a dog named Buster (a boxer) who grows up in a loving family but then over the course of his life gets passed from owner to owner and ends up in the pound for a time. Buster has agency--it wouldn't be much of a story if he didn't--but he's also just a dog who is often at the mercy of the humans around him. Pelecanos is able to help the reader experience what that mixture of agency and powerlessness must be like. Pelecanos' use of time in the story, since it is told from Buster's perspective, was especially interesting, and rang true to me. In a dog's life, there must surely be some key vignettes and experiences that stand out, interspersed between long periods of routine where nothing much happens out of the ordinary. Here, we're able to follow Buster from puppyhood through to old age, all in what feels like a fairly short book.

This novella is not, of course, just about the life of a dog. It is also about the people of Southeast DC and their struggles to survive in an area stricken with crime and poverty. Buster's life shares a number of parallels with those of many young black men in DC who grow up without fathers, without a lot of hope, having regular brushes with the law and violence. Pelecanos has told similar stories for many years but this story of Buster allows him to come at those all-too-familiar problems from a new angle.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and recommend it to anyone who loves dogs and is interested in stories about life on the street.… (more)

While I was initially surprised to get a novella (clearly I didn't preview the title in as much detail as I thought), the story is a very interesting read as it is written from Buster's point of view. Throughout, it felt like the author was in tune with his doggy persona, and either is or perhaps was a pet owner himself. Buster's experiences feel authentic to how a dog might feel given the different circumstances of the story. The author also adds excellent color to the story of the neighborhoods, with different smells and sounds that take you deeper into the story. Throughout, you feel as if you are experiencing and feeling what Buster did. While I know nothing of life in D.C., the story felt believable knowing how the different neighborhoods in my city feel. It is also authentic to my own experiences that while a dog may love the whole family, it does choose a person that it belongs to. All together, a good read for any animal person.… (more)