RED DOG

The author of CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN was inspired to write these “tall tales” when he discovered a statue of a sheepdog in a town in northwestern Australia. Narrator David Field's Outback twang brings a Down Under legitimacy to these humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, stories about Red Dog, a smelly and stubbornly footloose canine who'll eat anything ripe—from socks to eggshells. It jars a bit when de Bernieres reminds us that February is hot because it's summer Down Under. This slight distraction makes it even more important that Field sound like Red—independent, resourceful, and wry—and he does. S'truth ("God's truth!"), Field makes us believe in the essential Aussieness of a story that wouldn't be nearly as charming anywhere else on earth. M.M.C. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2011]