City Dog: A Novel, by Alison Pace

West Highland Terriers are proud, cute and fun loving dogs.  The star of the book, City Dog: A Novel by Alison Pace, just happens to be Carlie, a West Highland Terrier that is true to type.  Carlie explains about her breed:  “The Westie will not be ignored!” And constantly attempts to get the attention of her beloved owner Amy.

In the book Carlie the Westie becomes a star of a reality T.V. show.  Perhaps the best part of this novel is when Carlie narrates a few chapters.  Carlie begins her chapter by declaring, “This is a book about me!”  She is so cute once cannot help but love her.

Most of the other chapters are narrated by Carlie’s human, Amy, a lonely writer who prefers to stay inside on the weekends than go out on dates in the city (New York).  Amy makes her living by writing children’s books called Run, Carlie, Run! (Unsurprisingly, again, the Westie is the star.)

Alison Pace knows how to write some killer sentences, and she pays careful attention to the poetry of words.  The book begins with Amy on a date.  Amy is horrified because her date says he “was divorced” whereas Amy “is divorced.”  Amy considers the difference between those two verb tenses for a hilarious paragraph.

Alison Pace is clever and funny and has a knack for writing in the voice of the dog.  This is probably because she is the actual owner of a Westie, so she should know!

Anyone who enjoys reading dog blogs will certainly enjoy City Dog: A Novel.  I also suggest it to dog lovers, frustrated writers, and loners world wide.