Pippin did not bite people - well, maybe a little nip now and then - but she was quite reminiscent of the Airedale in Thurber's short story The Dog That Bit People. The text is put online from the Ohio Historical Society.
It is gratifying to know that Keith Olbermann has caused a surge in Thurber sales by reading some of his short stories aloud on Countdown. As a bonus, I'm sure it will do Olbermann good. I don't link to the videos of these readings because I don't like his rendition. Mine is better, or at least it was fifteen years ago. Tracy has suggested I reprise one of the Thurber's when Ben visits this summer, so that Kyle can share in a family tradition long dormant. Perhaps, but I might lean more to divvying up the roles of Tom Stoppard's "After Magritte," (another tradition), or some Monty Python routines.
Here is an actual picture of Muggs, BTW, who does indeed look like a dog that would suddenly turn on you.
Yes, that does look like a dog who would bite you. Back in grad school, I shared a house with a guy who had a terrier who looked somewhat like the one in the photo. This terrier was very friendly, however. All the neighborhood kids liked to play with it.
ReplyDeleteHere's another corrective to over-sentimentality where dogs are concerned, Billy Collins' poem The Revenant, which begins:
ReplyDeleteI am the dog you put to sleep,
as you like to call the needle of oblivion,
come back to tell you this simple thing:
I never liked you--not one bit.
I saw him do a reading a few years ago, and that last line got quite a laugh from the crowd.
While you're at the website, you might also appreciate Litany , which is a lot of fun.
Yes, that does look like a dog who would bite you. Back in grad school, I shared a house with a guy who had a terrier who looked somewhat like the one in the photo. This terrier was very friendly, however. All the neighborhood kids liked to play with it.
ReplyDelete