Carol Emshwiller, Carman Dog

Carman Dog

Carol Emshwiller

Small Beer Press, November 2004, $14.00

ISBN: 1931520089

Something strange is going on, as the psychiatrist explains to his new patient Pooch the dog that "the beast changes to a woman and the woman changes to a beast". Pooch the dog turned woman worries about the baby, as the mother has become a snapping turtle, while the father seems mystified about the changes, but not overly concerned. Things come to a head, or perhaps a bite when the turtle-mother bites the baby and refuses to let go until Pooch takes a lit match to the neo-beast's neck. Since the father remains uninvolved, pooch decides to flee with the baby for the infant's sake.

However, pooch has to reconsider her decision when they arrive in New York City, when the Central Park Wolverine gang threaten them and the scientists at the Academy of Motherhood want to test her and throw away the baby. Men do what they do best; ignore the goings-on, as dogs make better companions than women.

Using personification to satirize relationships, especially gender stereotypes, Carol Emshwiller provides an amusing look at acceptable societal roles that stifle people. The storyline is at its best when it skewers how humans behave and how we assume "beasts" behave. When it spins into mad scientists on the loose conspiracy, CARMAN DOG loses some of its acerbic bite, as the bark becomes louder not keener. Still, this is a deep swift satire that will have the audience laughing, yet also thinking about its underlying warning that labeling and classifying negatively oversimplifies everyone.