Arriving in Taiwan to begin a stint teaching English, Louis K. allows himself to be seduced by a woman in a bank. Back at her apartment, she turns out to be a witch, and after changing him into a Scotch terrier mutt, adds him to her backyard kennel of previous conquests, all now dogs.
Thus begins Louis’ canine life in Taiwan’s capital. Once set loose on Taipei’s streets, he seeks the key to getting himself changed back. But as the weeks turn into months, he finds his human personality is slipping away, swallowed up by ever sharper canine senses and an ever weakening grip on his once human self. A zany, multilayered satire of expat expectation and cultural vertigo.[This is a substantially re-edited 2017 edition of the original novel.]
An engrossing read . . . A remarkable and high-spirited performance. It’s the sort of book that could overnight easily become a local cult item. -Taipei Times
Recreates the streets of a vibrant, tawdry and little-known Asian city. Future critics will consecrate Mader as the Defoe of Dogdom. -Ryu Makoto, author of The Hospitality of Circumstance and Caught in the Act
Mader is . . . an endlessly fascinating eccentric, and absolutely everything he puts his hand to is very well worth reading. -Bradley Winterton, author of Gladovia