Mutts, Mongrels, Mischief: Twenty Humorous Dog Stories

by William B. Coates (Editor), James Thurber, O. Henry

Twenty hilarious tales of canine conniptions by JAMES THURBER, O. HENRY, JEAN KERR, ROBERT BENCHLEY, P. G. WODEHOUSE, MARK TWAIN, COREY FORD, FARLEY MOWAT, RING LARDNER, and 11 other world-famous authors

Back cover:

LOVE THOSE DOGS!

Naylor: a ferocious watchdog--but he couldn't tell Dad from a prowler!

Mutt: his "battle tactics" were out of this world

Fluff: he looked like an amateur camel--and had an incredible homing instinct

Spot: he faced down a lion--then had to live up to his reputation!

Little Bit: she turned the S.S. America upside down

Lady Jacqueline: she had a vocabulary of 20 words, all of them confusing


--and fourteen other of the darnedest dogs ever to bite a mailman, bury a bone, or befriend a burglar.

Genres: Animals, Short Stories

159 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1960

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun group of stories about a variety of dogs. The authors are famous for other books they've written.

[Dawn Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Im not sure of the publication of this edition of the book because the first few pages were torn out. However, the dog stories in this book show how very much views on the treatment of dogs has evolved. In these stories, most of the dogs always run free, the dog catcher kills with chlorform, and life for dogs is just shown to have been a lot harder than the lives most of the dogs I know live now. Not to say that all of the stories are sad or upsetting. Most of them are humorous, and I did enjoy reading the book, but I really got an education in how cultural norms have changed regarding the treatment of dogs.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointing! The best thing about Mutts, Mongrels, Mischief was the cover. Much of the "humor" involves abusing dogs or somehow dogs winding up dead for very unfunny reasons. There are only two good stories out of the lot. If you are a dog lover, skip this book. Here's the cover:



Stories:

* "The Dog that Bit People" by James Thurber.
* "Snapshot of a Dog" by James Thurber.
* "Ulysses and the Dogman" by O. Henry. Excerpt from Sixes and Sevens.
* "A Canine Houdini" by Lowell Thomas. Excerpt from The Pagent of Life.
* "A Dog for Miss Boo" by Margaret Lee Runbeck.
* "Dogs" by Ring Lardner. Excerpt from First and Last
* "Dogs that have Known Me" by Jean Kerr.
* "Kentucky Code" by Nick Boddie Williams.
* "Have a Heart, Lady!" By Ruth Lamson.
* "Little Bit and the America" by Ludwig Bemelmens. Excerpt from Father, Dear Father.
* "A Dog Chasing a Coyote" by Mark Twain.
* "Mascot of the Texas" by Paul Schubert. This is one of those stories where you don't know what the heck happened at the end.
* "Getting Rid of Fluff" by Ellis Parker Butler.
* "Battle Tactics" by Farley Mowat. Excerpt from The Dog That Wouldn't Be.
* "The Eight-Dollar Pup" by Phillip Curtiss.
* "Being a Public Character" by Don Marquis. Excerpt from The Revolt of the Oyster.
* "Talking Dogs" by Robert Benchley. Excerpt from My Ten Years in a Quandry.
* "A Very Shy Gentleman" by P. G. Wodehouse.
* "Montmorency and Other Fox-Terriers" by Jerome K. Jerome.
* "Love Me, Love My Man" by Corey Ford. Excerpt from Has Anybody Seen Me Lately?

[Thomas Petri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining, written by some of the better authors in the history of our literature.