"... it must have been a solemn and moving thing to see this beautiful animal, in the midst of the first labor of her life, performing upon herself, with no help but unerringly, as though directed by some divine wisdom, the delicate and complicated business of creation."  -J.R. Ackerley, My Dog Tulip, page 131

This is my first foray into dog lit as a cat person, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and quite taken with this story. Ackerley's prose is comforting and familiar, and his discussion of Tulip's sexual journeys is refreshingly blunt. I have read a number of reviews from people uncomfortable with this aspect of the book, but I found it both interesting and relevant, particularly taking into account Ackerley's own sexuality. A great deal of Tulip's sexual frustrations seem to mirror those a gay man might have had in the 1950's in Britain.