Peter Mayle is my favorite - lighthearted book about his dog's life in the south of France

Apparently there's a special genre of book out there that specialises in giving voice to dogs. The number is quite large too. This is the third of such book that I read. There's one trend that can be seen - the books are usually funny, witty and a bit satirical. How else can you be, when trying to view human and their quirks through the eyes of man's best friends?

Boy experienced a very hard life as a puppy. He had to compete with many of his siblings for mum's milk. Then with mum suddenly unexplainably disappeared, he had to face fighting for unappetising food and worse, the boots of the brutish owner. Then in the biggest adventure of his life he had to live off the gargabe bins, alone, outside a village.

That is until he met 'the management', i.e. the madame and the other half, an English couple living in Provence who are truly a good example of human, which in Boy's definition is the 'most convenient support system'.

In their household Boy thrives. As long as he conforms to the human's standard of hygiene - meaning staying away from the delectable smell of rotten dead animals and the like, and once in a while enduring the humiliating bath - he has the runs of the management's house.

There, in the kitchen and under the tables Boy grew up and learns a lot of wisdoms about human quirks, which he happily share in this funny, witty and unforgettable memoir. ( )

Amusing commentary on the author's life in France, told from the perspective of his dog. ( )

a dog's eye view of provence ( )