THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030038
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
SOURCE: BY BARBARA MCADEN BETTS
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
BOY, WRITER Peter Mayle's dog, offers his canine memoirs, ``A Dog's Life'' (Alfred A. Knopf, 192 pp., $20), with savvy.
``My story is based on actual events. However, following the current autobiographical custom adopted by politicians in their memoirs, I have adjusted the truth wherever it might reflect unfavorably on myself,'' begins the shaggy dog of unknown ancestry.
Boy celebrates life after he escapes from his unkind first owner, who futilely tried to make of him a hunting dog.
Found on the outskirts of a village in Provence, France, Boy gains a warm literary home with the management (as he calls his new owners) and an eclectic education - along with tasty, dropped morsels - from under the dining room table at frequent social gatherings.
``There's no place quite as illuminating as my spot under the dining table, learning by eavesdropping. All human life is there, and it's fascinating stuff if you can stay awake,'' Boy confides.
Craftily and beguilingly, Boy blends into the household with two older female dogs, trees an offensive neighboring cat, explores his beloved adjacent forest, chases chickens, and escapes a canine paternity suit.
He wins the devotion of the lady of the house and her ``other half,'' as Boy refers to writer-husband Mayle, perhaps best known for ``A Year in Provence.''
It's in his observations and evaluations of humans that Boy excels.
Beginning with his lament that it's difficult to teach an old human new tricks, Boy shares his philosophical views on:
Television - ``A box filled with small and noisy people, a disagreeable scent of heated plastic, the room plunged into darkness, conversation banned and the faint sounds of snoring in the background - is this enjoyable? . . . Have you ever seen rabbits hypnotized by flashlight? That's television, as far as I'm concerned.''
Friends - ``Learn to distinguish between natural friends and natural enemies. I always warm to gardeners (because we have a mutual interest in digging), clumsy eaters, those who understand principles of bribery to ensure good behavior, and denture wearers, who find biscuits difficult. To be treated with caution: anyone dressed in white, people who make patronizing inquiries about your pedigree, grumpy old men with sticks. . . .''
Babies - ``Unpredictable little monkeys they are, for the most part, always tweaking your whiskers or trying to unscrew your ears, although I can usually overlook their social failings when the lamb puree starts to fly.''
Communication - ``I have no need to talk. I can make my feelings and wishes perfectly clear to anyone who has the most rudimentary powers of observation. all . . . is body language. The supplicant paw, the vibrating tail, the fixed and loving gaze, the shudder of rapture - these speak louder than words when used by an expert.''
Boy's memoirs are delightfully combined with 59 drawings by Edward Koren.
If you hesitate to buy Boy's short book, which costs a little more than a dollar a page, you're probably not a dog lover. In any case, you will never know that the last two short sentences of this memoir are such wonderful classics that they're worth at least a third of the price of the book. MEMO: Barbara McAden Betts, special sections editor for The Virginian-Pilot
and The Ledger-Star, is owned by a 15-pound dog named Susie. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
JENNIFER MAYLE
Peter Mayle, author of ``A Dog's Life,'' with his pet pooch.
by CNB