Carmichael's Dog

by R.M. Koster

Poor Carmichael is possessed by a legion of demons who torment him to astounding creative heights--Carmichael is the world-famous author of a science fiction tetralogy. An ensuing struggle for Carmichael's soul is a hilarious sendup of the ancient combat of good versus evil and a fascinating excursion into the mysteries of artistic creation.

Genres: Fiction

311 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1992

About the author

R(ichard) M(orton) Koster is an American novelist best known for the Tinieblas trilogy—The Prince (1972), The Dissertation (1975), Mandragon (1979)—set in an imaginary Central American republic much like Panama, the author's home for many years. He is the author, besides, of two other novels, Carmichael's Dog (1992) and Glass Mountain (2001), and (with Panamanian man of letters Guillermo Sánchez Borbón), of In the Time of the Tyrants (1990), a history of the Torrijos-Noriega dictatorship. Koster's approach in the trilogy is post-modern magical realism, reminiscent of García Márquez in its sometimes fantastical content. In The Prince, for example, conflict over an American military base near the capital of Tinieblas causes a "flag plague" in which activists break out in stinging rashes of their national colors. As García Márquez's translator, Gregory Rabassa, has remarked, however, "Koster’s magical realism was direct, not an imitation of anyone. He was there in Panama so he just fell naturally into it." In its verbal and structural inventiveness Koster's approach is sometimes likened to that of Nabokov. The Dissertation presents itself as a doctoral thesis with contrapuntal stories in the text and notes. Each novel focuses on a larger-than-life protagonist around whom the action revolves, as in a concerto for solo instrument and orchestra. The author himself likens the books to the panels of a triptych, "since each of the three is complete in itself and since they need not be considered in the order of their publication." Major characters from one book appear as minor characters in the others, and vice versa. The unifying "character" of all three is Tinieblas itself. The Tinieblas trilogy may be seen as an imaginative response to the unrest that convulsed Central America during the 1970s and '80s, and as an extended reference to the work of Niccolò Machiavelli. Each protagonist is a political leader, in The Prince an adventurer on the model of Cesare Borgia, in Mandragon a charismatic like Savonarola. For the protagonist of The Dissertation pursuit of powern is a disease, yet he accepts leadership when it is thrust upon him. Throughout the trilogy the wages of power is death, and there are many incidents of grim violence and grotesque humor, often combined.The tiology received considerable acclaim, including a National Book Award nomination for The Prince. Overlook Press is currently reissuing it. The Prince reappeared in March 2013. The Dissertation will be published in October, 2013, and Mandragon early in 2014. Koster was born in Brooklyn in 1934 and has degrees from Yale and New York Universities. He went to Panama as a soldier in the 1950s and has lived there since. He taught
English at the National University of Panama, and from 1964 to 2001 was a member of the faculty of the Florida State University, serving at its Panama branch. He has lectured in English and Spanish at more than 20 universities in the United States and Latin America. In 2003 he was a visiting professor at Southern Methodist University. Koster has had parallel careers in politics and journalism. He was a member of the Democratic National Committee 1967-1996, served on many Democratic panels, and wrote presidential debate copy for Senator John Kerry in 2004. He has reported for the Copely News Service, Newsweek and the New York Times. Essays by him have appeared in Harper's, Playboy, and other magazines. Koster's work is deeply grounded in the western literary canon, though references tend to be playful not pedantic. In Carmichael's Dog (1992), which takes place in a parallel universe, characters quote the playwright Robin Speckshaft, creator of Malaspina, 'the gloomy duke' who had his dwarf strangled for making him smile. Koster's wife, Otilia Tejeira trained as a ballerina and later had a career as a human rights monitor. They have two children and three grand children.

Reviews

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exuberantly ulta-literary and cunningly comic and a world unto itself. I can't think of another novel like it because there isn't another novel like it. Wonderful.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable comic novel about a writer who is infested with demons representing the seven deadly sins, narrated by one who represents Sloth. They are tormenting/inspiring him to create great works, which could be read as commentary on the creative process. His dog serves as exorcist, however. Some funny sex scenes involving Lust demons.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not understand why this magnificent book is out of print. Should it come back into print, I will definitely be getting a copy, because this is well worthy of re-reading.

Once while browsing Reddit, I read a brief description of the book and it captured my imagination. I couldn't tell you why the premise alone hooked me so well, but it did, and I've been hunting for it since. I finally found it on the Internet Archive, which is known primarily for the Wayback Machine. It also hosts an archive of other media that would otherwise be lost to time including film, music, and books. :)

They have Charmichael's Dog to check out of their digital library. It's not even an ebook. As far as I can tell, someone took a hard copy and scanned it page by page. I read the entire novel, in teensy tiny font, on my phone and it was worth it.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This marvelous book has been on my Recommended list ever since I read it thirty years ago. Endlessly inventive, witty, and even, in a way, touching in its tale of a grouch redeemed by an ordinary dog, its real strength (including the dazzling--and yes, to some, demanding--prose) lies in its metaphorical Portrait of the Artist: what it means to be one, to dedicate one's life to art, with all the pain and risk that entails. Anybody devoted to lasting creative endeavor should read this for the sheer satisfaction of seeing one's struggle rendered so vividly and empathetically--and with such style! If your public library doesn't have it, there are lots of inexpensive copies available online.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have been a 5 star, but at times it felt like I was slogging through it. I also didn't really like the constant references to people and places that don't exist.

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 6% on 2021.02.23.

I read a post about this book on Reddit a few years back, and I ordered a used copy right away. The post described the book as being partially a POV of a host of demons going through an existential crisis because the man they are possessing gets a dog. That sounds amazing.

I just now got around to trying to read it. Wow. It is really bad. Really, really bad. It looks like there's a good story buried here, but it can’t be worth trudging through this prose:

"During most of a book's construction the hulk engendered off-study winds."

or

"I have here a deposition by one Theron Bishop, sometime lifeguard at the Tarpon Harbor Municipal Beach, who on August 14, 1966, leaped from the tower where he was stationed, abandoning the comfort of bench and umbrella, and sprinted eighty feet, mostly over hot sand, to snatch Davy Carmichael, six, from the maw of a breaker."

or

“Such was Carmichael’s normal response to benefaction—as numerous witnesses would eagerly testify, but let us call Mrs. Jeannette Sned of 3372 Marston Road, Sunburst, who on the day the Carmichaels moved into 3370 baked and brought to their door a spinach quiche. Apologists for Carmichael will leap to point out that this act was liberally smeared with ulterior motive, that Mrs. Sned was atwitch to inspect her new neighbors, to browse their furnishing for defects of taste, to view their effects before disreputable items might be secreted away in cabinets and closets, and generally to collect intelligence of them, for her own files and for peddling to her crone cronies, and that, besides, she craved first crack at Nicole to bad-mouth other residents of the vicinity before they had a chance to bad-mouth her.”

Also, the book has a deckle edge. This is actually perfect for it. A special effort was made to be highbrow, but the end result is just needlessly annoying--like the prose.