Another piece, Alice Elliott Dark's “A Second Act,” attempted satire in the wake of the James Frey “scandal,” but fell short of even getting a chuckle out of me. Author Raw Bones (get it?) has written A Million Little Reeses, which was chosen by Orpah Doxie (get it?) as a book club selection. Then scandal broke out when it was revealed that Bones exaggerated a bit in his story. This short is his "interview" with Mea Culpa magazine, and the topic simply doesn't translate well to canine humor (kicking a chocolate addiction and eating grass to help stay "clean"), to say the least.
Susan Miller’s story, “13 Questions,” about “interviewing” dogs, was weak as well (the punch line is that all dogs think about are squirrels, and it's repeated ad naseum). David Smilow’s “Part Pooch, or: More Than an Act,” which was a rather boring account of "being" a dog, professionally (in a play), only elicited a yawn out of me.
While this anthology fell short of the high bar set with Dog Is My Co-Pilot, the inclusion of some of my favorite writers, including Houston, Notaro, and Barry, as well as a few others, redeemed it somewhat.
The great thing about a short story collection such as this is that if you encounter a story you don’t care for, you can simply skip on to the next - no harm no foul. After Howl, I'm well practiced in page skipping.
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