The Great Grisby: Two Thousand Years of Exceptional Dogs - Hardcover

‘I have read thousands of books in my 81 years and this is the only one that has made me happy’ Jonathan Mirsky, Spectator

‘Utterly delightful and beautifully written ... the greatest pleasure of this wonderful book is reading about the author's love for Grisby. No dog lover will find fault with it’ Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of BEASTS and DOGS NEVER LIE ABOUT LOVE

‘Learn how dogs have enriched the lives of poets, artists, kings, writers, and many other notable people in this fascinating book about dogs in literature and history. Who knew that Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, unknowingly had the first therapy dog? The Great Grisby is a wonderful book about the special bond between humans and dogs’ Temple Grandin, author of Animals Make Us Human

‘An amazing array of information ... If you enjoy history and animals you will find this to be an unusual treat’ Seattle Post-Intelligencer

‘Brottman employs her training as an Oxford educated scholar, critic and psychoanalyst to plumb the depths and breadth of this ancient friendship’ Bark Magazine

‘You cannot help but fall in love with Grisby’ Jeffrey Moussiaef Masson

In this charming bestiary of exceptional dogs, Mikita Brottman reflects on the role dogs play in our world, all explored through her relationship with her dog Grisby and many other examples of the dogs of great writers and artists from literature, lore, and life.

Structured like a leisurely stroll in the park, you will meet exceptional dogs in these pages: from ‘Atma’ the name given by philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer to his succession of Standard poodles, to Frida Kahlo’s hairless Mexican dog Xolotl, to Zemire the adored Italian greyhound of Catherine the Great. We meet Picasso’s dachshund Lump; Freud’s chow Yofi; Bill Sikes’s mutt Bull’s Eye in Oliver Twist; and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s spaniel Flush, whose biography was penned by Virginia Woolf. There are royal dogs, such as Prince Albert’s greyhound Eos, and dogs cherished by authors, like Thomas Hardy’s fox terrier, Wessex; and many many more.

As Brottman ruminates on her relationship with Grisby, she draws support and inspiration from history, art, philosophy and literature. Although the book ranges over different times and places, it reveals that exceptional dogs often share character traits, the most common of which is miraculous loyalty. It also shows how much dogs have to teach us about empathy, happiness, love and what it means to be human. Through quirky anecdotes and personal reflections, with side-trips into psychoanalysis and animal studies, this wonderful book for doglovers everywhere shows us the many ways in which dog is the mirror of man. No dog lover will be able to resist.