Boss Dog: A Story of Provence [Paperback]

M.F.K. Fisher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 1992

Chronicles an American mother's year abroad with her two daughters in Aix-en-Provence. Part memoir and part fiction, this adventure is presided over by an aloof and proprietary mongrel, the Boss Dog, who frequents the young family's favorite cafe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

First published as a limited edition by the Yolla Bolly Press, this brief and charming novel by essayist/epicure Fisher tells with childlike esprit of an American family's residence in Aix-en-Provence. The mother and her saucily precocious children, Anne and Mary, get to know the town with the staunch help of Boss--"the doggiest dog anyone ever saw"--a stray with an incurable craving for pistachio nougat. The Boss Dog has an enviable knowledge of Aix's low and high life, and guides the three travelers through crowds and toward restaurants. He is "a large fellow with a fat rear, mostly the kind of terrier called yippy, part Fox and part Boston and part Mystery, a rather rat-nosed, narrow-eyed, undistinguished dog esthetically." Fisher's inimitable observations of place, taste and character give readers vicarious encounters with the fountains, cafes, festivals and food of Aix, while she lyrically--and nervily--captures the lives of Americans abroad. The droll accident of being outsiders, and its fatigues, have rarely been so delicately evident in fiction.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

According to Fisher's afterword, this tale is based on her sojourn in Aix-en-Provence with two young daughters in the early 1950s. The adventures of a proud if scruffy mongrel, the Boss Dog, serve as a pretext for an informal, fictionalized portrait of the southern French city and its denizens. As the recent Long Ago in France ( LJ 2/15/91) attests, Fisher is an elegant and accomplished stylist, but here she serves up more style than substance. The result is mildly diverting and will appeal to travelers, dog lovers, and fans of the author's other, more substantial works.
- Grove Koger, Boise P.L., Id.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 118 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon (March 17, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679738606
• ISBN-13: 978-0679738602
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #896,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a tasty morsel, March 28, 2005

By 

Sharon L Burns "lilipad" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boss Dog (Paperback)

I thought this book was utterly charming. Fisher delights, as usual, with her precise prose, vivid descriptions, wry and warm affection for the people, places and dogs of France, speficially in this instance of small Provence town of Aix. This, which must be a slightly (or who knows how much) fictionalized account of the author's stay in Aix with her two daughters and their dealings with a mysterious and sometimes aloof dog. Each vignette fully realizes the drama, humor, and flavor of vintage Mary Frances Kennedy. It's good reading for kids; the pace is swift and the diaglogue sharp. I can't wait to read it to my son when he gets older.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Family Fun in France, June 11, 2001

By 

Tom Williams "Marketing Maven" (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boss Dog (Paperback)

This is a little gem of a book about an American mother and her two children, and their time living in France. MFK Fisher is a delight to read, and this book speaks of her personal experience in France. The book tells about the adventures of a dog that is in command, and how they come to know, watch and love this canine manager.

This is a great story to read as an adult, and especially wonderful to share with children. As someone who lived abroad as a child, I would highly recommend it for anyone moving, or visiting a foreign country (especially France), as it tells of the adventures that one can find everywhere on the road. the adventures that one can find everywhere on the road.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fairy take in real life france, April 18, 2009

By 

Christina Wodtke "~christina~" (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Boss Dog (Paperback)

M.F. K. Fisher is most famous as the godmother of food writing. But in this story, she ventures away from the culinary and spins a tale of two young expatriate girls, their mother and the mongrel dog who watches over them (and the entire town of Aix-en-Provence.) In the course of the book, the dog checks out strangers, attends festivals, and even foils robberies. You can't quite tell as you read it if the shaggy-dog-sties are fiction or true adventures; but the dog at the very least provides this tiny family a way to feel at home and welcomed in a strange country. It's a book you can read again and again (which is useful since children demand just that.) Attention filmmakers: you are missing your next hit!