Old Bakery Books.co.uk

'In early 1998 I went to Perth in Western Australia in order to attend the literature festival, and part of the arrangement was that I should go to Karratha to do their first ever literary dinner. Karratha is a mining town a long way further north. The landscape is extraordinary, being composed of vast heaps of dark red earth and rock poking out of the never-ending bush. I imagine that Mars must have a similar feel to it. I went exploring and discovered the bronze statue to Red Dog outside the town of Dampier. I felt straight away that I had to find out more about this splendid dog. A few months later I returned to Western Australia and spent two glorious weeks driving around collecting Red Dog stories and visiting the places that he knew, writing up the text as I went along. I hope my cat never finds out that I have written a story to celebrate the life of a dog.'

Amazon.co.uk Review
Readers familiar with the epic sweep of Louis de Bernieres' previous novels, and especially his phenomenally successful Captain Corelli's Mandolin, might be shocked by this small volume of (literally) shaggy dog stories. But those who have enjoyed the humour of those same novels will appreciate this sleeker, slimline de Bernieres.

In 1998, de Bernieres visited the mining towns of Western Australia and stumbled across a bronze statue of Red Dog (1971-1979) outside Dampier. Inspired by this legendary canine, he made another visit, collecting the stories of his life and gently fictionalising them. We follow Red Dog, the itinerant, resourceful, if flatulent hero ('a real dag of a dog') as he seduces all who meet him at Hamersley Iron Transport. After his early residence with New Zealander John is cut short by John's untimely death, however, Red Dog undertakes 'his greatest adventures' with 'absolute liberty', criss-crossing the country with amazing ease, becoming the 'Pilbara Wanderer, the Dog of the North-West, who belonged to everyone because he couldn't find the one he loved the most, and wouldn't settle for less'.

Whether undermining the Hitlerian trailer-park managers, or hitch-hiking from Perth, Red Dog always comes up trumps. Dealing with his hero's inevitable decline, de Bernieres manages to secure real empathy for the dog, without declining into mawkishness--perhaps because we all know a Red Dog, canine or otherwise. As one character points out: 'Everyone's got a Red Dog story. Someone ought to write them down.' Louis de Bernieres thankfully has.