Reviewed by Antonella Townsend
Three Wild Dogs – and the Truth – a memoir about the life and times of the dearly departed Reuben and Archer; concluding chapters are dedicated to Frosty who is still living the dream. The dream is having a loving, no-matter-what-happens, loyal carer, some might say owner, but I’m not sure that’s the right word in this context, as it is unclear who is owning whom. The carer is Markus Zusak, an author of some repute.
The title acts as warning. Three Wild Dogs – and the Truth. Pay attention to ‘the truth’. Zusak is honest to a fault. Which is more than I can say for the dogs. I think they were conning Zusak from the very start: ‘Let’s give him something to write about, a bit of scary grist for the mill’. Dogs are so intelligent.
‘The truth’ conjures up immediate quotes – biblical, the truth will set you free, and Hollywood, you can’t handle the truth! The latter certainly applied to this reader during Zusak’s retelling of the possum incident, but I made it through and now it’s best forgotten. Whereas I’m sure confessing to a variety of brain snaps [while under severe provocation] has set Zusak free.
Above all the shock horror there is humour. If Reuben wasn’t being the comedian, it was Archer pushing Zusak’s buttons with hilarious results. I loved them equally.
Reuben and Archer were huge, heavy, and hairy. None of your cutesy some-thing-or-other-oodle. No, these two were proper dogs. Men of courage. They knew when to be tough, when to be gentle. Reuben loved the baby of the family, he would walk slowly at her side taking care of her. Dogs are so intelligent.
I must make note that I take umbrage at the ‘Wild’ bit of the title – everyone has to let off a bit of steam now and then. Yes, there was a once-only bitey incident, clearly a misunderstanding. It’s hard to identify intruder from friend in a dark hall when the man of the house is away and early morning school run chaos is erupting from upstairs. And, yes, the cat incident was unfortunate, but seriously cats are so uppity.
And, inevitably, it gets sad. Zusak’s grief must have been hard to endure. But life goes on, and after a long while along came Frosty. Talkative Frosty. Zusak lists twenty-three of Frosty’s forays into naughtiness. Zusak sums up: … Frosty’s calling card is easy – he’s the friendliest but naughtiest dog we’ve ever had, by far.
Where would we be without dogs – they are so intelligent. Where would homeless dogs be without people like Markus Zusak.
A wonderful memoir. Thank you Reuben, Archer, and Frosty.
Three Wild Dogs – and the Truth
by Markus Zusak
(2024)
Pan Macmillan Australia
Hardback
ISBN: 978 176156 182 5
$36.99; 232pp