Musical Dogs

Martha Wilson is Canadian correspondent for the Japan Times (Tokyo) and
a Toronto-based freelance editor and writer.

George McWhirter’s stories feature characters who are blessed with odd
talents and cursed with impossible lives. In “A Christmas Chorale,”
for example, Olaf (Glenn) Fairchild, a dedicated cellist, wants to give
his wife a dog to help make up for the hours he spends practising. When
Fairchild’s pregnant wife leaves, the dog remains behind, as a sort of
replacement.

We also encounter beautifully told stories of inept longing and
inarticulate need. A notable example is “The Dead Road Map of
America,” which is strongly reminiscent of Richard Ford’s writing.
Some of McWhirter’s most inventive and pleasing images have a Canadian
sensibility: “Colum’s moods were long and ran through the middle of
him: CN/CP trains, taking time to get going, but once moving not to be
stopped until they had reached a logical or moral destination.”

Musical Dogs is a collection to cherish.