The Wolf in the Parlor

by Jon Franklin

Jon Franklin is a science reporter, and he explores in detail "the eternal connection between humans and dogs," dwelling mostly on speculations about the past, how our species evolved together, affected each other, became so dependent on one another. Posits that our predecessors may have been so successful and out-competed or survived where other early hominids didn't, precisely because they had dogs at their side. Examines how our very senses have come to compliment each other (man and dog), how man has shaped dog breeds to his need and whim,  how dogs' social behavior meshes with ours, and so on. Through the lens of anthropology, biological and evolutionary sciences, and the very everyday experience of adding a dog to his own family- a standard poodle named Charlie. I was just as surprised as Franklin to find how little we actually know about the history of dogs, considering how close we are to them- he claims it is a truly symbiotic relationship. I was alternately intrigued and bored with his meanderings- he often goes into other topics and when the writing got philosophical I lost focus. So this is one of those cases where you have to remember that my rating systems denotes a personal response to a book, and doesn't necessarily reflect on the quality of that book. I actually thought I wasn't going to finish this one- I was skipping a lot of stuff in the first hundred pages, but then either it got better, or I started to pay more attention. Gave me a lot to think about.

Rating: 2/5      283 pages, 2009

more opinons:
The Poodle (and dog) Blog
The Dog I've Always Wanted