THE DOGS OF BABEL

Alternately witty and sad, this love story has three characters--a man, a woman, and a dog. When the beloved woman dies mysteriously, her husband, a linguist, tries to teach their Rhodesian Ridgeback to speak. "Lorelei is my witness." A genuine study of language is mingled delightfully with invented facts, and so we hear of one scientist who felt that dogs were the lost tribe of Israel, and one dog who learned only to say roast beef in Hungarian. Erik Singer's rich, masculine voice actively deepens the drama, since the book--although written by a woman--is narrated by the husband. The novel reminds us that marriage, however well intentioned, can be a mortal blow. B.H.C. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]