Sheryl Longin remembers the moment she first fell for greyhounds: "It was at an adoption fair, and there was a pile of pillows, with these gorgeous dogs lounging on top of each other. It looked like an opium den - so fabulous."
The Los Angeles-based screenwriter soon learned that greyhounds who’ve retired from the racetrack deserve all the pillows and pampering they can get. Forced to chase a mechanical rabbit lure, kept in cages with no toys or TLC, they’re killed when they can no longer run fast enough.
Some survive to become adored family pets. One of those lucky ones was Dorian Greyhound, whom Longin adopted and named after the title character in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Longin took her literary inspiration to the next level and penned the novel Dorian: A Dog’s Tale. Narrated by the greyhound himself, the 70-page memoir may be short, but it’s long on adventure, humor, and heart.
Dorian recounts his life story, from his traumatic beginnings at an Arizona racetrack to the happy day he moves to the Hollywood Hills home of his "beloved mistress" (that’s Longin). In a voice that recalls the world-weary refinement of Wilde, Dorian offers sharp observations, by turns hilarious and sad, about the people and dogs he encounters. The book conjures elements of two canine-lit classics: Virginia Woolf’s Flush and J.R. Ackerley’s My Dog Tulip.
To wit, here’s how Dorian relates his transport from racetrack to rescue:
As I lay in the back of this life-saving vehicle transporting me to parts unknown, I had just three concerns: food, liquid refreshments, and a hot bath. Well, perhaps not the last item (I confess a dislike of water except in beverage form). But the hurried opening of all windows, followed by a heavy-handed dispersion of lemon scented air freshened suggested this was of pressing importance to my rescuer. Even in my diminished capacity, I realized that I was breathtakingly malodorous and in desperate need of a vigorous scrubbing. What I was entirely unprepared for was the extent to which my entire body, including its most private orifices, would soon be lathered, rinsed, and probed. I am referring most specifically to that sensitive region, until then a veritable No Man’s Land – the teeth and gums.
Dorian’s story will appeal to all dog lovers, but especially to greyhound adopters, who can’t help but smile in recognition at certain details (especially the need for oral hygiene in rescued racers). Finally, the plight of the greyhound is described from the dog’s point of view. One can only hope Longin will follow this debut novel with a sequel narrated by her present dog, the equally literary Zane Greyhound.
