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Books

The author’s father didn’t want you to read this book. It’s hard to understand why

A review of A Dog’s Life, by Michael Holroyd. This thinly veiled portrait of Holroyd's family is more an exercise in self-chastisement than vanity

19 July 2014

9:00 AM

19 July 2014

9:00 AM

A Dog’s Life Michael Holroyd

MacLehose Press, pp.237, £12.99, ISBN: 9781848665224

There were several times when reading A Dog’s Life that I felt as if I’d fallen into a time warp. It starts with a quote on the cover from Hugh Massingberd: Holroyd is ‘a brilliant writer blessed with perfect pitch’. Nothing wrong with that, except that Hugh, alas, is no longer in a position to review books, having died seven years ago.

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