Considerations on the Death of a Dog

Readers will find solace in the poignant writing of Jean Grenier as he reflects on his love for his dog.

"If you have a dog you will likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and prospectively, to equally profound sadness."—Marjorie Garber, William R. Kennan Jr. Professor of English and Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University

Turtle Point Press is pleased to announce the publication of the first English translation of Jean Grenier's book of meditations on the death of his beloved dog. Originally published by Gallimard in 1957 asSur la mort d'un chienConsiderations on the Death of a Dog is a series of ninety diary like observations in which Grenier summons strength and understanding from his profound love of his dog, Taiaut. He calls on his deep philosophical and spiritual resources, his quietist version of Christianity and his immersion in Taoist principles as a way of contemplating and coping with his sadness and grief.

These intensely personal, wistful and occasionally whimsical aphoristic entries, followed by several pages entitled, A Note on the Relationship Between Animals and Men, are a fitting memorial to a dog who, in the words of Elizabeth Von Arnim, "loved steadily and unchangingly until its last breath."