CULT OF THE DOG

by Patricia Dale-Green ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 1967

This book can be faulted on exactly the same grounds as the earlier The Cult of the Cat (1963). Although pedigree and lineage has been competently traced, the emphasis is on legend, myth, lore, cults, ""dogmanity"" (wer-dogs), and ghost stories from every civilization. Fine and fascinating in itself but then the author insists on a curious blend of mysticism and psychology in her view of the effect man's best friend has had and could exercise over humanity: ""The dog-man relationship needs (like the Hound itself) to undergo alchemical transformation. The false amalgam of dog-man as an unconscious subhuman entity must be placed on the hearth. If the various processes are accomplished, an image will finally be produced of a dog-man in which there is no confusion, but a creative merging of separate beings such as exists in the deep rapport achieved between a blind man and his canine guide."" Specious hopes indeed.

Pub Date: June 21, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1967

Categories: NONFICTION