The Exile Book of Canadian Dog Stories

The Exile Book of Canadian Dog Stories brings together 28 exceptional short stories by many of Canada's most prominent fiction writers. From work by our earliest storytellers, such as Earnest Thompson Seton, L.M. Montgomery and Stephen Leacock, to classic stories by Mavis Gallant, Alistair MacLeod and Sheila Watson, to new writing by a younger generation, including Lynn Coady and Matt Shaw, this unique anthology explores the nature of the human/dog bond. As editor Richard Teleky explains in his introduction, the stories collected here are not sentimental tales about noble dogs doing heroic deeds, something children might be urged to read,” but rather stories that represent the rich and complex and mysterious bond between dogs and humans. Most national literatures include some notable dog stories, and Canada is not the exception.” Adventure and drama, heartfelt encounters and nostalgia, sharp-edged satire and even fantasy, make up the stories in this memorable collection, chosen by a critically acclaimed fiction writer who has kept an eye out for essential reading that will appeal to dog lovers of every persuasion. There are city pets, country dogs, childhood companions as well as a strange stone-dog statue, all ready to entertain and haunt readers, and remind them of their own beloved dogs, past and present. By way of Newfoundland to British Columbia (with a few stops in Europe, too) dogs of all breeds, shapes, and sizes inhabit these pages, showing what Canadians have sometimes made of their dogs, and what they've made of us in return.

Richard Teleky is a professor of humanities at York University. He has published books of both poetry and prose, including Goodnight, Sweetheart and Other Stories, The Hermit’s Kiss, Pack Up the Moon, and The Paris Years of Rosie Kamin. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.