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table
Minotaur
by Peter Goldsworthy,
PenguinIt’s two years since Detective Sergeant Rick Zadow
was shot at his Adelaide home, leaving him blind.
He’d swapped places with the hit man’s initial
hostage, Rick’s wife, Dr Willow Lee. Hero to the
cadets at the police academy, who deem him
medal-worthy, he spent months in a coma after a
suicide attempt, and is living on “compo”. Willow
moved out, leaving Rick to shuffl e around in their
old shed with dedicated virtual girlfriend Siri and
guide dog Scout. Goldsworthy’s golden nuggets
shine in this funny, feeling, fading story of a big
man who loves his Ducati, his Scotch, his job and
his wife. After a fl otilla of Margaritas one night,
they go to bed, but she turfs him out on waking.
He smells seafood – which she doesn’t eat – in
her trash and detects a boyfriend. When ex-Chief
Terry turns up on his doorstep, Rick senses a hand
being held out but is yet to trust his instincts. Terry
has news – the man who shot him has escaped
from prison. “I need to hug you,” he tells Siri. “You
need to argue?” A literary gem.Clockwise from
top: Dalmation
Fox, natural-born
athlete Papaya;
Welsh corgi Darcy;
and seven-year-old
toy poodle Peetrie.
From The Year of
the Dogs, copyright
© Vincent J. MusiPhotographyLiterary detectiveThe Year of the Dogs
by Vincent J. Musi, Thames & HudsonWhen National Geographic
photographer Vincent Musi’s son
turned 16, he decided to stop
wandering the world taking pictures
and start a project closer to home.
The result is this delightful, desperately
cute and often hilarious portfolio of
more than 100 one-of-a-kind dogs,
each accompanied with a “dogography”
telling the pooch’s life story.