The Best Dog in the World: Essays on Love
edited by Alice Hoffman
DETAILS:
Publisher: Scribner
Publication Date: March 10, 2026
Format: Hardcover
Length: 208 pg.
Read Date: May 11-29, 2026
All these years, I never had a dog and I didn’t know what I was missing exactly. I had opinions on the matter, It seemed that dog people were the kind of folks you saw in beer commercials tossing Frisbees on the beach. The kind of people who have season tickets to the Mets. The kind of people who never miss a Giants game. The same people who never miss the Rolling Stones when they’re touring through. The kind of people who probably would have voted for Teddy Roosevelt and then for his cousin Franklin. Easygoing. Unflappable. Cool. A dog person is someone who first and always loves dogs. A dog person treasures connection and brings humans together. A dog person is open to the possibilities that come from loving an animal that needs you and loves you back. And now, after a lifetime of not being one, I was a dog person.
from Adriana Trigiani’s “Lola”
Warning
You know how each National Dog Day in August, I post something called “These Dog Days Aren’t Over” about books where dogs live? This book will not be appearing in that post.
Of the 16 dogs written about in this book, three were alive when the essay was written—that’s 19%. And one of the essays about a dog who was living talks about the dog’s aging, and the essayist thinks about life after the dog. So the percentage is almost lower.
If you’re one of those readers who (understandably) want every dog in a book to live, this is not one for you.
But for those who can appreciate something well-written where a dog doesn’t have to keep running and barking, read on.
What’s The Best Dog in the World?
This is a collection of essays by Isabel Allende, Chris Bohjalian, Bonnie Garmus, Roxane Gay, Emily Henry, Ann Leary, Tova Mirvis, Jodi Picoult, Elizabeth Strout, Amy Tan, Adriana Trigiani, Nick Trout, Paul Yoon, and Laura Zigman. The title pretty much tells you what to expect, but Alice Hoffman’s afterword sums it up pretty well:
In reading these essays I realize they are all about loyalty and love. How lucky we are to have a dog in our lives. How treasured our time with them is. I have come to realize there is not necessarily one best dog in the world, but, if we’re fortunate, many best dogs, who each enrich our lives in different ways.
In the essays contained here there are stories about loss and family, about new relationships and hardships, but each and every one is about love.
So, what did I think about The Best Dog in the World?
Like most dog owners, I view her with absolute objectivity as a canine genius with the sweetest soul on the planet.
The only dog owners that would likely disagree with Chris Bohjalian are people like me, who are convinced their dog missed out on the day intelligence was passed out with the sweetest soul on the planet.
But he hits on the main point of the book. I seem to be on a theme this year, a few months back, I read a novel called All the Best Dogs—and the theme was all the dogs are the best dogs. Then we get this compilation—which basically says the same. Every dog-person basically knows this already—it’s just affirming to see in print.
This collection was like talking with a bunch of new friends about our dogs—much like a lot of conversations at a dog park, just without the interruptions to point out something ridiculous or cute (or both) happening in the park itself. Oh, and more erudite and eloquent.
There were two essays that didn’t work for me—but the rest did. Some were just satisfying, some were, “I want to spend hours with this author and/or their dog.” One of the ones that didn’t work for me was actually really well written, and I was impressed by the way they worked in life events with the discussion of their dog. I just thought it was too dog-light to fit the theme. The other was about a show dog. Sorry, Amy Tan, I just had a super-hard time caring. I’m sure it’s reverse-snobbery on my part (although Frankie seems like a well-loved dog, with a great life—especially in retirement). Also, there was some really good writing in Tan’s essay (not a shock to anyone).
Emily Henry almost made me weep; Bonnie Garmus convinced me to read Lessons in Chemistry in the hope that the same voice shines through; I’m going to have to check out Paul Yoon (and probably a couple of the others); the Jodi Picoult in these pages is not the one that my wife describes to me when she talks about her books (this is likely true of most of these writers. Different topics, etc.) And the list goes on.
This was sweet, touching, uncommonly relatable, heartstring-tugging, and smile-inducing. I don’t know if you’ll walk away with a fresh understanding of the love of a human for a canine—or a canine for a human—but it’ll be refreshed.
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