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Title: A Dog's Tale

Author: Mark Twain

Narrator: David Ian Davies

Format: Unabridged

Length: 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-10-10

Publisher: One Voice Recordings

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Mark Twain's story, told from the standpoint of a courageous and loving she-dog, was first published in 1903. The story, by turns both funny and heartbreaking, begins with a description of her life as a puppy. As she grows, she is sold, then takes a mate and has a puppy, and her master and mistress have their first child. Her motives are misunderstood when she saves their baby from a fire and she is cruelly beaten. The truth is soon discovered, however, and she becomes an adored and loved heroine to all those around her. But her master is a scientist and her puppy dies cruelly in a biological experiment. The ending is deeply moving and sad.

Editorial Reviews:

Though it's not a well-known fact, Mark Twain was a passionate believer in animal rights. In A Dog's Tale, his empathy for our furry companions comes to light. A warm narration from David Ian Davies brings humor and touching emotion to this story told from the perspective of a loyal, loving family dog from her puppyhood through adulthood. Listeners will be moved by the heartbreaking sadness the dog has to endure, from being beaten to a misunderstanding, to the sorrow of losing her puppy to a biological experiment conducted by her master, a scientist. While it still bears Twain's trademark wit, A Dog's Tale is deeply moral and affecting.

Members Reviews:

Awful story, awful quality, riddled with typos

The Dog's Tale story is sad and depressing, and about four pages long. The other story, Heaven or Hell, is weird and depressing. The entire 38 page book is riddled with typos. Waste of time.

So Upsetting!

This was not what I expected from a short story by Mark Twain. I HATED it!

Very upsetting; and it made me cry.

A great story about man's cruelty towards his dog

Other reviewers have rated this poorly, and I want to correct that. The story is not a happy one, as most stories with pets are. This tale of a dog, who tries to do as his mother would do, saves the life of his master's baby and is abused by the father who is a scientist. The dog has a puppy of his own, and the puppy is used as an experimental dog by the scientist and put to sleep and buried. The dog, knowing that when you bury seeds they grow into something beautiful, hopes and waits for his baby's growing since the puppy too was buried in the soil.

The tale itself is about the cruelty that man and science had towards dogs at the time, and it's not for the faint of heart. It's also a testament to Twain's writing that he can take the tale of inhumanity towards Man's best friend and spin it into a heartbreaking narrative.

One of the great ones. . .

Near the end of his life, Twain wrote stories that expressed his contempt for the cruelties, stupidities, and general brutishness of mankind. In this story, which goes well with The Mysterious Stranger, he contrasts man with dogs. Dogs have true morality and heroism, which doesn't stand a chance against man's "moral sense."

The reader who sees Twain as a children's author will be horrified at much of his work. Twain's humor is seldom meant to be jolly or forgiving.