Jonathan Carroll, Outside the Dog Museum

Outside the Dog Museum

Jonathan Carroll

Orb, Jun 2005, $13.95

ISBN: 0765311852

The Sultan of Saru tries to hire Pritzer Prize winning architect Harry Radcliffe to design a dog museum, but though he takes the bribes like a brand new car, Harry declines. Recently divorced over his Colonel Sanders' recipe and balancing two beautiful strong women, Fanny Neville and Claire Stansfield, at the same time he is a recovering mental breakdown patient struggling with what is reality under the guide of psychiatrist Venasque.

Reality strikes in the form of an earthquake devastating Harry's Santa Barbara home. Venasque's dog and the Sultan rescue Harry, who now feels obligated to both so agrees to the zillion dollar canine museum. In the Saru, Harry feels the magic is now in him, but soon finds himself in the middle of a Civil War in which his patron dies. Still Harry begins to understand the meaning of reality as magically altering when perceptions change while Harry also changes.

OUTSIDE THE DOG MUSEUM is a fantastic allegorical tale of a not so nice individual falling through the rabbit's hole. The amusing storyline contains a powerful message while making a case that perception is relative. Readers will wonder if Harry's physical and mental transformations are magical or just the antihero going further over the edge following the insane shopping spree, the earthquake, and the war. Fans of metaphorical action tales will appreciate this fine satire by an author with the perfect surname even if Harry lacks Alice's innocence.

Harriet Klausner