Men and Dogs: A Novel

MEN AND DOGS is a fast and well written read marred by the dislikeable characteristics of the two major characters as well as the improbable situations in which they find themselves. The book is basically the story of a thirty-five year old woman named Hannah and her slightly older brother Palmer. The siblings' physician father disappeared on a fishing trip twenty some years before and presumably drowned thus crippling his children's emotional development despite the presence of a decent mother, a generous mega rich stepfather and a caring community.

Hannah has never been able to accept that her father is actually dead (a body was never found) and somehow seems to blame his disappearance for her faithlessness to her husband whom she presumably loves and other instances of impulsive behavior. Her brother Palmer is a successful gay veterinarian who doesn't have any outward guilt about his homosexuality but has always secretly believed it drove his father to disappear. One of my major problems with the book was I could not believe Palmer who the author depicts as cool and fastidious would have chosen a career in veterinary medicine which inherently has many messy and uncontrollable moments. The author explains Palmer is a control freak and that is why he chose to be an animal doc?? I couldn't help but wonder if the author made him a dog doctor just to underline the theme of dogs and faithfulness that inspire the book's title. Anyway when the novel begins Hannah is estranged from her husband and their formerly successful business ("sex toys for rich people") has hit the skids. She moves in to her mom and stepfather's historic mansion for a month to recover from a physical injury caused by trying to break in to her ex's apartment and to put her life back together. Brother Palmer has just kicked his latest boyfriend out because the poor fellow mentioned he might be interested in becoming a parent through adoption or surrogacy. And both siblings are about to encounter old lovers and discover some long held beliefs about their parents are false.

The book has a real sense of time as the present day action takes place in the fall of 2008 when Obama was nearing his election with a few flashbacks with genuine details to the spring of 1984 when Hannah and Palmer's dad disappeared. The setting is Charleston, South Carolina and the author's description of the city and some of its quirky customs and people are among the best parts of the book. This is a quick very readable novel that doesn't quite live up to its lofty themes or overcome the handicap that both leading characters often appear to be spoiled brats despite Hannah's dawning realization that "there won't always be a why."

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