Living with Freddie: How a dog taught me to be human - 'A touching memoir' (Elif Batuman)

Anna Heyward

An extraordinary memoir about learning to see the world through a dog's eyes, by a New Yorker writer and animal behaviour expert

'A touching memoir ... leaving the reader feeling enlarged and enlightened' ELIF BATUMAN

'A beautiful, moving and heartfelt tribute to the most special relationship on planet earth - the bond between humans and our dogs' TONY PARSONS, author of Man & Dog

When Anna Heyward adopted Freddie, a rescued Italian greyhound, she was thrilled to bring a dog into her life. But Freddie, she quickly realised, had separation anxiety and was unable to be left alone. Some would have given up and returned the dog to the rescue centre but Anna, instead, became obsessed with trying to help Freddie, which meant putting her relationship, social life and job at risk. As Anna observed Freddie's behavior, she began to change - but not in the way you might expect.

Living with Freddie elegantly weaves memoir with animal science, and evolving ideas around behaviour and intelligence. But at its heart, this is a beautiful, heart-wrenching portrait of the relationship between a human and a dog. And at the end of Freddie's story, you, too, may find yourself changed.

'Compelling, vivid, and essential' Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus

'An extraordinary, beautifully written book ... a stunning meditation on the bond between beasts and humans' Marc Bekoff, Ph.D. author of Dogs Demystified: An A-to-Z Guide to All Things Canine and The Emotional Lives of Animals

'Heyward writes with sublime curiosity, uncommon lucidity, and an open heart-about her dog Freddie, yes, but also about love, devotion, suffering, natural selection, conditioning, and humans' relationship with the nonhuman world. I couldn't put it down' Carolyn Kormann