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You would think that a 12-pound dog would know her place in the world. Well, you obviously haven't met Clara, the pug that rules writer Margo Kaufman's life and the topic of discussion in
Clara: The Early Years, Kaufman's hilarious account of living with the imperious pug. Kaufman, author of
This Damn House! and the Hollywood correspondent for
Pug Talk magazine, admits to being the "Official Pug Lollipop," a fact that Clara takes full advantage of. From their first meeting in a New York hotel room, Kaufman knows that Clara is "different": "Five minutes after her arrival, she inspected our junior suite like Leona Helmsley checking to see if the chocolate mints on the pillows were lined up at the right angles. Clara noticed the spacious queen-sized bed, the plush carpet, and the cozy loveseat in my sitting room. She beheld the cold hard floor--tile, not even marble--in her tiny bathroom. And she realized that the Human had put her own comfort over the pug's--a serious error that must be corrected at once so the Human would not make this mistake again." Sure, most people would have run screaming from the little Hitler, but not Kaufman. She's instantly smitten with the tiny, "bat-eared," "jack-o'-lantern"-toothed puppy, as the whole world soon would be. Joining Kaufman on book tours, stealing the show with her designer doggy cap and natural on-air charm, posing for photographs (to be used in dog-food endorsements, no less), and generally hamming it up and handing out orders, Clara comfortably stakes her claim to the Kaufman clan--including fellow pug Sophie. But when Kaufman and her husband decide to adopt Nicholas, a Siberian orphan, Clara feels the limelight slipping away. Wrapped in bureaucratic red tape, the adoption process involves not only months of paper pushing but a trip to Siberia that just about puts Clara over the top. Luckily, the persnickety pug accepts Nicholas into the fold and all is well in Clara's universe. As for the Kaufmans, well, indentured servitude to a pug isn't so bad. Kaufman's witty observations--combined with Clara's unforgettable antics--make for a memorable read.
--Stefanie Hargreaves
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From Publishers Weekly
Most of those who live with animals concede to their whims and finally admit who is pet and who is master. Kaufman (This Damn House!), Hollywood correspondent for Pug Talk magazine, knows who rules her life?Clara, an ebony pug, and Sophie, Clara's sister. "Who knew that small wrinkled dogs with pushed-in faces would prove to be the greatest commitment of my life?" asks Kaufman in this delightful book. Dubbing herself "the Official Pug Lollipop," the author extols the dog's virtues and relates its drawbacks with irony and compassion. She recounts visits to a breeder with a "Pug Wall of Glory," to "snooty" pet stores, to clothing stores and, with Clara, to TV and radio stations where the dog garners more attention than her human. By the book's conclusion, both Clara, "the little princess" who is wont to attack dogs 10 times her size, and Sophie need to learn to share the spotlight, as the author and her husband make a human addition to the family. After the taxing and hilarious adventure of adopting a foreign baby, Kaufman finds raising an infant not unlike raising a pug. Among her son Nicholas's first words are "Clara," proving that the pugnacious canine retains her claim on ruling the household. This memoir will charm anyone who loves dogs. As Kaufman notes, "Pugs are living proof that God has a sense of humor"?and so does the author, in spades. Agent, Loretta Fidel.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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