A few months back I received a query and a copy of a self-published book called A Tongue in the Sink, by an author named Dennis Fried, Ph.D. I took a look at the book and thought the writing was funny and insightful, but when I read the query that came along with it I noticed a sort of off-hand comment the author made, saying that he had previously self-published a book called Memoirs of a Papillon that had sold 20,000 copies. So like any good agent I immediately called him and said, “That’s the book I want to see.”

Dennis sent me a copy and I immediately fell in love with it. As a book ‘barktated’ to its human by a 7 pound dog named after a butterfly, you’d expect it to be cute, and probably a little too cute. However, as Genevieve covered the tragedy of doorbells in commercials, how to measure the intelligence of humans (the results are not encouraging), finding a reason for cats, bending your human to your will, converting your house into an agility course, dominating the doggie park, and flunking out of obedience school with style, her snarky sense of humor absolutely won me over.

For me a good test of how much I love a book is how relentlessly I tell my wife little bits and pieces of it. And after reading her at least 12 or 15 sections from Memoirs of a Papillon and laughing ourselves silly, she finally snatched it out of my hand and read it for herself (definitely a more efficient way of getting to the material, but a lot less fun for me…). Simon & Schuster ended up feeling the same way and snapped the book up immediately via their Simon & Schuster Entertainment division. It will be released as a small hardcover next year under the title Small Dog, Big Life. Pick it up if you get a chance. I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.