They Called It Puppy Love

In The Dogs of Babel, a grieving linguistics professor tries to teach his dead wife's dog to talk

Somewhere deep in the publishing mills of New York City, an editor is massaging his (or probably her) pale, prominent brow and asking, "How the hell did I do that?" That person is the editor of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, a beautiful, sensitive, melancholy novel of exactly the sort that's usually overlooked by the reading public. Except that it wasn't. The Lovely Bones inspired immoderately enthusiastic reviews (including one from this reviewer), sold more than 2 million copies and levitated onto the best-seller lists, where it still sits a year later.

It would be unfair to compare 88's The Dogs...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!