Lives of the Monster Dogs [Hardcover]

Kirsten Bakis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1997

When a race of elegant, superintelligent dogs arrives in twenty-first-century New York, they become instant celebrities, but, unable to adjust to the modern world and confronted with an incurable disease, they construct a fantastic castle and barricade themselves inside. A first novel.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A postmodern Mary Shelley, taking the parable of Frankenstein's monster several giant steps farther, might have written this fable of a novel about a tragic race of monster dogs--in this case, genetically and biomechanically engineered dogs (of several major breeds). Created by a German mad scientist in the 19th century, the monster dogs possess human intelligence, speak human language, have prosthetic humanlike hands and walk upright on hind legs. The dogs' descendants arrive in New York City in the year 2008, still acting like Victorian-era aristocrats. Most important, the monster dogs suffer humanlike frailties and, ultimately, real suffering more serious and affecting than the subject matter might at first glance suggest.

From Publishers Weekly

Cosmopolitan Manhattan of 2008 embraces a new breed of immigrant in this weird, fanciful tale of surgically enhanced, talking, bionic canines out on the town as they search for their history and place in the world. Conceived by 19th-century Prussian mad scientist Augustus Rank as an army of superior, fiercely loyal dog soldiers, the monster Pinschers, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Dobermans and other sturdy breeds became fully empowered only many years after his death. Rank's followers, secluded in a remote Canadian village, continued his work, ultimately developing a race of super-intelligent, longer-living dogs trained from birth to use surgically attached mechanical hands, speak fluent German via a mechanical voice box, walk erect and dress in the elegant human fashions of the 1880s. NYU student Cleo Pira develops friendships with a few of the dogs in New York and becomes their liaison to the human press, writing insider articles for Vanity Fair and other chic magazines. Cleo narrates the novel, incorporating excerpts from the papers of Ludwig Von Sacher, the dogs' historian. First-novelist Bakis holds the reader in thrall for much of her imaginative tale, but, disappointingly, the dogs never emerge as strong characters. Though the reader gains some understanding of Ludwig through his writing, Cleo's conversations with the dogs are uniformly abrupt and anti-climactic. Instead, Bakis offers more of a dream vision that, ultimately, might be all in Cleo's head. Fortunately, that vision is engaging in its own right and, through Bakis's storytelling skill, makes for an audacious, intriguing and ultimately haunting debut.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux; 1st edition (February 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374189870
• ISBN-13: 978-0374189877
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I found it haunting, unforgettable, and touching., October 16, 1997

By 

Daniel P. Smith "Daniel P. B. Smith" (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lives of the Monster Dogs (Hardcover)

The thing I love about Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is that he convinces me that he is not being whimsical, and that he is not making it up as he goes along. For me, "Lives of the Monster Dogs" has the same quality.

I found it convincing. The city of Rankstadt, the dogs' opera, the genuinely horrifying depiction of the young Augustus Rank--I think these will stick in my mind forever.

It does not surprise me at all that the book does not work for everybody. And, yes, I thought the ending was weak.

Still, I wish Cleo and Lydia the best. I hope that Ludwig will meet "I, Claudius" in some literary Valhalla; I believe they would like each other. And I will certainly look for the ruins of Neuhundstein the next time I find myself in New York City after 2011.

Is it just my imagination, or does something about the expression and bearing of the author, as shown on the back flap of the cover, resemble that of the monster dog on the front cover?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling and disturbing, January 5, 1998

By 

Richard Rosichan (Miami Beach, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lives of the Monster Dogs (Hardcover)

This book is the intriguing story of an artificially created race of super-intelligent, slow-maturing dogs with prosthetic hands and voice boxes who descend upon a bemused New York City in the early 21st century. Created by the disciples and descendents of a disturbed and driven 19th century Prussian scientist, the dogs revolt against their human masters in 1999, leave their Canadian wilderness encampment and eventually arrive in the Big Apple. As a group, the dogs are both recluses and publicity hounds (pun intended), lovers of life yet driven by a sense of impending doom. They befriend and are befriended by a young female writer, and they change each others' lives. The work is filled with dazzling juxtapositions: the diary of a 19th century Prussian madman and of a 21st century journalist; the notes of a "monster dog" and the libretto of an opera about their history written by another dog. There are occasional lapses in style and pace, but they can scarcely mar this driven and impressive work. I must admit that my personal interest both in dogs and in the New York neighborhood described so perfectly by Bakis - where my daughter lives - enhanced but did not determine the book's impact on me. Taking a dog to the dog run in Washington Square Park will never seem the same again! The sense of impending tragedy that pervades the book should not dissuade anyone from reading it. It left me shaken but inspired. -Richard H. Rosichan

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but it could've been longer, April 13, 2005

By 

Steven J. Moore (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lives of the Monster Dogs (Paperback)

I won't agree with it being in the "horror" genre, considering there's nothing scary about the book. I would consider it more a "sci-fi" then anything. Only thing I suggest is read it because you're interested, regardless on what genre it is.

I'm not going to say what the book's about, considering you can read that with other reviews, but mention what I feel about the book. I thought the book was interesting. The only thing I wished Kirsten Bakis would've done was make it a little longer and got deeper into some of the characters' lives; IE, maybe get deeper in the relationship between Cleo and Ludwig.

I wouldn't mind reading a sequel to this book.