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Summary: Rave Reviews!!
Review: "Haunting, fiercely original...unfolds like a rich, resonant dream...A dazzling, unforgettable meditations on what it means to be human." -New York Times Book Review "An effective fantasy in the tradition of Robert Louis Stevenson and Mary Shelley. It is loaded with metaphor and reflection-on nature and culture, on science, on the place of artists in society." -The Wall Street Journal "One of the most unique and unusual works of fiction to come along in many years...Like Frankenstein before it, MONSTER DOGS is a fabulous fable well told." -Cathy Hainer, USA Today
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Summary: Not a perfect novel -- but worth reading
Review: I agree that the ending was unsatisfying, and that the author could have fleshed out her invented world a lot more. Yet I think the reason everyone finds the length of the book a problem is that we were all so completely drawn in by her ideas -- I for one, didn't want the story to end, and still find myself wishing to read more about a world with such possibility. Our appetites were merely whetted -- it will take more novels from her to satisfy me. I only hope she doesn't go the Anne Rice route and reuse the same ideas, imagery, etc. over and over and over.
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Summary: Arf, arf - a true dog
Review: This was one of the most astonishing publishing errors of 1997. Not only are the characters in this book hardly differentiated from each other but it blatantly shows the author is ignorant of science, the makings of theater, true musical composition and lyric writing. It just infuriated me! The business with the opera was a scream to anyone who works as a theater professional. No one would have produced that dog of a show and no one should have published this "wholly original" woofer.
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Summary: You can judge a book by its cover.
Review: Great descriptions of clothing. Sort of an interesting meditation on the cult of celebrity, but doesn't ever really take hold of one's imagination. Flat characters. Banal dialogue. Disappointing.
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Summary: Simply the best book I've ever read.
Review: I didn't expect this book to be very good when I picked it up off the shelf. In fact, I laughed to myself when I read the title; it sounded like a cheap horror novel. When I first opened it and began to read it, however, my opinion changed completely... From the first page to the last, "Lives of the Monster Dogs" is purely fascinating, enchanting, and charming. You could say it took me in and didn't let go until the end, and by then, I for one did not want to be let go. An excellent and magnificent book; need I say more?
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Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: OK, so I bought the hype too. And then I bought the book. What I got was one completely uneveloped idea, careless writing, and a vague narrative voice that boldly apologizes for absolutely sophomoric plot twists (if a book without a plot can be said to have plot twists, that is). Maybe dogs would enjoy this book. I sure didn't.
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Summary: The best book I've ever read!
Review: I LOVED this book, and usually I won't spend over ten dollars on a book, but it was worth it for this one. It was wonderfuly written and I would recremend it for every one to read.
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Summary: Great idea -- poor execution
Review: The publishers of this novel apparently decided that the premise of this book was so provocative that that alone would justify its printing. That HAS to be what they were thinking because there's very little else to this book. To her credit, Bakis does not really go for the movie-of-the-week cheap shots that leap to mind when one thinks about what would happen if a race of highly intelligent dogs came to live in New York. Unfortunately, neither does she exploit any of the juicy possibilities. She doesn't even bother to develop her characters -- but we do get detailed descriptions of their clothing. I really wanted to empathize with the dogs, feel their alienation -- but I couldn't. She didn't even tell a good story. In my opinion, this is yet another example that it takes more than a great idea to make a good book. The idea behind this book made me buy it -- but I won't be buying any more of Bakis' books, no matter how engaging her premise. She doesn't deliver what she promises.
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Summary: Distinctively unoriginal
Review: It is unfortunate that this book has received such wide publicity. There are too many good books out there and too little time to read them all. Hailed as original and inventive, it is a pale copycat of much finer works. For those seeking originality, read Patrick Suskind's Perfume, or anything by Philip K. Dick. But please do not waste your time on this predictable, ill-written drivel. Cujo is turning over in his grave.
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Summary: Enthralling and disturbing
Review: This book is the intriguing story of an artificially created race of super-intelligent, slow-maturing dogs with prosthetic hands and voice boxes who descend upon a bemused New York City in the early 21st century. Created by the disciples and descendents of a disturbed and driven 19th century Prussian scientist, the dogs revolt against their human masters in 1999, leave their Canadian wilderness encampment and eventually arrive in the Big Apple. As a group, the dogs are both recluses and publicity hounds (pun intended), lovers of life yet driven by a sense of impending doom. They befriend and are befriended by a young female writer, and they change each others' lives. The work is filled with dazzling juxtapositions: the diary of a 19th century Prussian madman and of a 21st century journalist; the notes of a "monster dog" and the libretto of an opera about their history written by another dog. There are occasional lapses in style and pace, but they can scarcely mar this driven and impressive work. I must admit that my personal interest both in dogs and in the New York neighborhood described so perfectly by Bakis - where my daughter lives - enhanced but did not determine the book's impact on me. Taking a dog to the dog run in Washington Square Park will never seem the same again!
The sense of impending tragedy that pervades the book should not dissuade anyone from reading it. It left me shaken but inspired.
-Richard H. Rosichan
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