A Dog's Life

I have been a fan of Peter Mayle for a while. A Dog’s Life is different from his usual writing style but I thoroughly enjoyed it. This story is told from the dog’s point of view. It seems like a very accurate accounting of what I think dog’s reactions may be. But then I tend to give my dogs more credit regarding their thought processes and adding human emotion.

“Boy” was a pup with an unhappy childhood. He was chained outside with barely any shelter and had a cruel owner. When he was taken hunting he proved to inefficient at that task as he was afraid of gunfire. I was becoming truly sad when I read how he was abandoned. The cruel owner took him for a car ride, pulled the dog from the car and hurled a piece of meat into the show more weeds. The dog took off for the meat and the owner drove off, abandoning the poor dog to fend for himself.

The dog roamed the countryside, eating scraps when he could find anything and eventually went into a city to beg for food and company. Each time he followed someone it seemed they may take him in but he was always shooed away in the end. Finally, on one of his trips roaming the roadside, a kind lady stopped the car and offered him a ride. This is the beginning of Boy’s good fortune.

The kind lady and her husband are none other than Peter Mayle and his wife. They dubbed the dog Boy and took him in. What a wonderful life Boy had living in the Provence countryside, wandering from the kitchen to the local woods and then writing his memoirs. Boy provides us with his observations of his new owners (he calls them management), thoughts on hygiene habits of various nationalities who visit the French cottage, cats, meals and wine.

The drawings in the book were done by Edward Koren and are perfect for all the stories. I liked this book very much and it’s a very quick read. It’s humorous, it’s set in Provence France and offers a good storyline – what’s not to like.

5 Bones for this classic canine story. Let’s share a white Bordeaux in honor of Boy’s fine accommodations in the Provence countryside. It’s always nice to read a happy ending. show less

Boy tells his story of abandonment and abuse. He lives on the streets in Provence where he must fend for himself. Boy also happens to be a dog. This is the story of his life. Every inch of this story is covered in the perspective of the dog. After some tough times on the street, boy moves in with a writer and his wife. Boy's new life is full of dinner parties, house guests, and love. Boy writes about his thoughts on cats, the punishments for stealing, and how amazing chewing and chasing a tennis ball. Boy also shares about how ridiculous he finds humans to be.
I would suggest this book for older students, around grades 5-8. The author uses sarcasm, which adds to the complexity of the text. However, the text is full of witty remarks and show more wonderful humor. I would use this book as a mentor text to help teach perspective. I would have my students take a piece of writing that they had previously written and determine who's perspective it was written from. I would then have my students determine another character who's perspective that it could be written from. Then the students would have to rewrite the story, from the perspective of another character in their story. The book is a great way for a students to learn about writing from a unique perspective. show less

5214. A Dog's Life, by Peter Mayle (read 5 Nov 2014) This is a 1995 book by a dog, Boy, who is born with a dozen siblings in the litter. No one chooses him from the litter so the owner dumps him in a forest in France. He eventually ingratiates himself into being taken into a French home. He often does not behave well but knows how to induce his keepers into forgiving him, The book is funny at times but not memorable.

This is a charming tale, told from the dog's perspective. It probably helps if you have read Toujuors Provence by Mayle as many of the situations in this story are similar, but from the dog's view. Sweet, funny and a quick read, the illustrations are charming as well.

This is a fun, well written book. The "author" offers insights into why a dog behaves as it does that are both amusing and profound. He also presents a point of view on the behaviors of people that amazingly accurate.

If you are a dog person, or just someone who enjoys them from a distance, you will love this book.

The delicious conceit of this autobiography is that a dog is writing his memoirs, to other dogs. "Boy" was found abandoned on the outskirts of a village in Provence. He has an understanding of human foibles, and their often amusing if inexplicable behavior. Illustrated by the "furry" drawings of Edward Koren.

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 show more 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. show less