Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain - Hardcover

Sherrill, Martha

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1594201242 ISBN 13: 9781594201240

Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The, 2008

Synopsis

Chronicles the fierce determination of individualist Morie Sawataishi to ensure the survival of the Akita species after all but sixteen dogs were slaughtered for the Japanese war effort, an endeavor during which he moved his young family into Japan's remote snow country and embraced a radically unconventional lifestyle. 30,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author:

Martha Sherrill is a former Washington Post staff writer who specializes in penetrating profiles of difficult subjects. Her award-winning writing has appeared in Esquire and Vanity Fair among other publications. She is the author of The Buddha from Brooklyn, a work of nonfiction, and the novels My Last Movie Star and The Ruins of California.

From Publishers Weekly:

Morie Sawataishi had never owned a dog, but in 1944, when the Japanese man was 30 years old, the desire for one came over him like a sudden... craving. During WWII, snow country dogs were being slaughtered for pelts to line officers' coats; working for Mitsubishi in the remote snow country, Morie decided to rescue Japan's noble, ancient Akita breed—whose numbers had already dwindled before the war—from certain extinction. Raised in an elegant Tokyo neighborhood, his long-suffering wife, Kitako, hated country life, and his children resented the affection he lavished on his dogs rather than on them. The book brims with colorful characters, both human and canine: sweet-tempered redhead Three Good Lucks, who may have been poisoned to death by a rival dog owner; high-spirited One Hundred Tigers, who lost his tail in an accident; and wild mountain man Uesugi. To Western readers Morie's single-mindedness may seem selfish and Kitako's passivity in the face of his stubbornness incomprehensible, but former Washington Post staffer Sherrill (The Buddha from Brooklyn) imbues their traditional Japanese lifestyle with dignity, and Morie's adventures (he is now 94) should be enjoyed by dog lovers, breeders and trainers. B&w photos. (Mar. 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1594201242
• ISBN 13: 9781594201240
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256