I really enjoyed this book, a collection of five almost mystical short stories. The simple illustrations convey a very ponderous tension between the characters, an expectation of greater things at play, and I don’t know how Jason does this. There is so much life present and hinted at in each of the characters, so the funny moments are full of relief, with both subtle and overt humor, and the darker moments are quite bleak or dreadful. How should this be possible with comical-looking anthropomorphized dogs? And I didn’t realize this until I read the public library’s subject categorization, but yeah, each of these stories is about revenge and its futility. The characters who seek it and get it never find it satisfying, and those who never attain it often get lost in its pursuit. What an interesting theme to center five stories around.

posted Mar 11, 2012 at 12:20PM

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