EAGLE TIMES STAFF
NORWICH, VT — Living in the greatest existential crisis facing humankind, we ask ourselves and one another: What can we do to fix the mess we’ve made? First, we can listen to a particular dog! Or, at least you can if you read Norwich native Meg Dean Daiss Hurley’s “The Dog Who Ate the Vegetable Garden & Helped Save the Planet.”
Hurley will read from her novel at 7 p.m., tonight, Nov. 16, at the Norwich Bookstore.
“The Dog Who Ate the Vegetable Garden & Helped Save the Planet,” could be the only book in the Library of Congress listing a dog — Dori, a real dog — as the author, the story has been called quirky, audacious, witty, maddening, sad, delightful and deadly relevant — and much of it takes place in Norwich.
Canada’s leading literary review journal — The Miramichi Reader — describes the book as “an exceptional work of internationally published literature.”
This year, Guernica World Editions re-released the second and updated edition. Scientists, poets, publishers, and a world record holder in women’s track cycling and Olympic Silver Medalist have, among others, praised Dori’s saucy and direct take on how humans treat animals, which drives the destruction of the planet and causes most deadly and debilitating illnesses in humans.
The solution offered up by this young, white, cheeky, plant-based Boxer is basic and one in which everyone can partake to heal all life.
Hurley’s work has been published in magazines, newspapers, and anthologies in the United States and Korea, including Ms., Mothering, Parents, Gokdongsanae and Yosong Shinmun. She has been recognized in Best American Essays as a Notable Essayist.
The film The Hanji Box (Amazon Prime) is based on her experiences in Korea. Up next, she’s finishing her book of poems for publication. Meg, Jack and the dogs Ottis and Heidi live in New Hampshire. She is a graduate of Wellesley College.
Best friend. Alter ego. Willful. Independent. Mouthy. Dorothea Orane Hurley (Dori) kept her human family in line, making them question and assess their relationships with animals — including pets. This is her one book.
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