A very sweet and informative book of poems about pups. This poetry collection breaks out of the twee as well, and has a huge selection of poems from all time periods and regions about dogs, many of which are in translation or not necessarily by poets that are very famous in the US and other English-speaking countries. Fantastic work!

BOOK REVIEW: Dog Eared ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚, 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙜; 𝙗𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚 / 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙨 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙚.” -John Heywood, included in the Dog Eared poetry collection.

Description ✨ This book is a collection of poems featuring dogs from across centuries (including poems/excerpts from Homer, Ovid, Lord Byron, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and More!)

𝙿𝚞𝚋 𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝙾𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟽 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟶

𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚞𝚜 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢
This book was not exactly what I expected it to be, and that is one of the main things I loved about it. First of all, there were more dog poems spanning over so much time than I ever expected. Some of them were sad and some were happy, but what stuck out most was that the poems showed how our views of dogs have shifted over time. The way dogs were discussed (and how concepts like animal cruelty were explored) changed from poem to poem (which went in chronological order so you could really see the shift). It showed a more complex view of dogs as a result, as not all poems were just light hearted and fun. Reading this reminded me a lot of my days as an English major!

𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚢
Wu provides information about each writer and the poem/excerpt chosen. It was really interesting getting to learn more about each writer’s connection to dogs, and there was a lot of history I never knew about! Wu also provides footnotes (especially for some of the older poems) that are extremely helpful.

𝚆𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍?
Yes! It may not be the type of book everyone reads straight through, although I appreciated that I did so I could see how the poems connected / changes over time occurred. It does have various sad dog moments as well, so be mindful of that if those are hard for you! They usually are for me, but I still felt able to enjoy and appreciate this book.

Dog-eared was an interesting and unexpected read. This compilation of literature's most notable poems about dogs tackled the varying views of man's best friend through history. Duncan Wu's personal introduction sets the stage for the rest of the poems that span from BCE to modern day. Sometimes viewed as a beast, sometimes as a lovable pet, dogs are never as controversial of a topic as they are presented in this book. One of my favorites was Michael Ondaatje's "A Dog in Berkeley".

Poetry + Dogs?? SIGN ME IN!

I always wanted to read an Anthology of all dog poetry by famous or renowned people in literature. I’ve already read one similar to this but it was about cats.

This was a different format from the other one that I read because in this one there were explanations for who the authors were and their relation to dogs in their life experiences. This is interesting because I only expected a compilation of literary works about dogs. That additional touch is greatly appreciated and enhanced my reading experience since I understood the collection more deeply. Additionally, most of the excerpts/poetry included were excellent choices in my opinion. They tackled different perspectives on how dogs can be used in various symbolisms for societal issues.

This is definitely worth the read if you’re into literary poetry and dogs/animals.

While the poetry was nice, this is really just a reprinting of the works of famous writers with some commentary, but not enough to merit a whole book. I admire the thought that went into this writing, but for a person that seems to really know what they're talking about, Wu doesn't talk about it often.

Dog-eared is an enjoyable collection of canine reflection. I enjoyed this wide range of titles and reflections.

Dog-eared by Duncan Wu, one of the books I went in to blindly, I usually grab a book after I have learnt every single thing about it, yes, that includes spoilers too! But with this one, I was like “I’m a simple person, I see dog, I go all in”. So what I expected was a few poems about dogs, but what I got was so much more, it was brief, yet comprehensive, it was poetic and it was a dog lovers heaven.

Mr Duncan introduces us to the concept of “good dogs” and “bad dogs” (I’m still not sold on the idea that there could even be such a thing as a bad dog) through out the history, as told in poems by famous poets and influencers from years past. I was amazed to find out some very familiar names I didn’t know were dog lovers, people like Walter Scott, Dorothy Parker, and Robert Browning, though most of the classic literature addicts know about Emily’s obsession with Flush, her spaniel. Another thing that I usually do not get to read about, when I am devouring the work of these great authors, is the fact that many of them were staunch advocates of animal rights, hard pressed against vivisection (likes of Robert Browning, Christina Rossetti, William Cowper), and dog lovers to the core. And that’s one of the many things that impressed me about this book, the author has driven in to the world of these famous people, the world that has been kept sheltered from us for far too long.

All in all, a wonderful read, with such a complete and diverse collection of poems about the man’s best friend, the “goodest boy”, and the fiercest companion.
Couldn’t leave without sharing these master pieces from the book:

By John Heywood
Love me, love my dog: by love to agree,
I love thy dog as well as I love thee.

And my favorite by Martial, a satirist
Your cute little pup licks your face and lips;
Oh what a surprise!—he loves to eat shit.

What a fantastic idea! A history of dog-poetry from the very beginnings of the form. I found this insightful, educational, and compelling. I also enjoyed its linguistics lessons via the end-of-poem glossaries translating Olde English. I enjoyed the author's take on what makes a dog poem, and the importance of reassessing our perceptions of our favourite animals through the ages. Some of these poems were adventurous, stark, some tragic, some absolutely wonderful in their explorations and representations of dogs and our varied relationships with them. I loved it. Thank you for the chance to read.

trigger warning
<spoiler> animal cruelty, the dog dies, slavery</spoiler>

This anthology contains various poems in rhyme and even one in prose centering around dogs. Dogs as hunter, dogs as friends, dogs as wild beings greeted in passing, dogs as lamented family members that passed.

Most poems follow a short intriduction of the author and since I read a review copy, I am going to assume that before publication, all poets will get this treatment. What I liked is a vocab section, because looking up certain words and phrases from times past can get time consuming and nobody knows <i>all</i> the words.

What this collection lacks is diversity. Most poems are by men, and even those that are not were written by white people. I understand that this is about the classics, but how about a follow-up book with contemporary poems by people from all over the world?

Some poems I'll most likely forgotten already tomorrow, some make me want to look up their authors and read more of their work.

You certainly need to like dogs to find this fun.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Not entirely what I expected but based off the description, you basically get what it says. I guess I had expected some talk of dogs through the ages and maybe some more modern poems about dogs from the author. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed this. I love that the love for dogs can date back from so long ago. The relationship between dogs and humans has always been lovely! This is great for anyone who loves poetry, history, and dogs.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Not exactly what I expected but still interesting. Each chapter is about a famous poet and how dogs were reflected in their works. The author gathered poetry in this anthology all about dogs in a good collection of poems, most of which I'd never heard before.

I've never been a huge fan of poetry but after reading Elizabeth Acevedo's first book, I decided to give poetry another chance. That's the main reason why I requested this book followed by my love for dogs. However, this book was not what I was expecting. The majority of the poetry is not an "accessible" type of Poetry. I found myself struggling with the first part of this book, the fact that English is not my first language can also be a factor in my frustration.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book, I'm sure many poetry lovers would find it incredible.