Three Wild Dogs

and the truth – a memoir

By Markus Zusak

In this poignant, funny and disarmingly honest memoir, one of the world’s most beloved storytellers shares a heartfelt tale.

Markus Zusak, bestselling author of The Book Thief, tells the story of his family’s adoption of three troublesome rescue dogs. It becomes a charming and courageous love story about making even the most incorrigible of animals part of the family.

What happens when the Zusaks open their family home to three big, wild, pound-hardened dogs? There’s Reuben, a wolf at your door with a hacksaw; Archer, blond, beautiful, deadly; and the rancorously smiling Frosty, who walks like a rolling thunderstorm.

Three wild dogs and chaos

The answer can only be chaos. There are street fights, public shamings, property trashing, bodily injuries, stomach pumping, purest comedy and carnage that needs to be seen to be believed. And if that weren’t enough, there’s the occasional police visit at some ungodly hour.

Alongside the madness, there is also a reckoning of shortcomings and failure. At the same time, the family experiences a strengthening of will. But most important of all, there’s an explosion of love – and the joy and recognition of what it means to be a family.

Three Wild Dogs (and the truth) is a love letter to the animals who bring hilarity and beauty straight to our doors and into our lives. These dogs change us forever.

Truthful – and often very funny – this is as true a book about a dog as you will find.

– Telegraph

About the author

Markus Zusak is the internationally bestselling author of six novels, including The Book Thief and, most recently, Bridge of Clay. Publishers have translated his work into more than forty languages. His books have spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list. This success has established Zusak as one of the most acclaimed authors to come out of Australia.

All of Zusak’s books – including earlier titles like The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, When Dogs Cry (also titled Getting the Girl) and The Messenger (or I Am the Messenger)—have earned numerous honors. These range from literary prizes to readers’ choice awards, and even include prizes voted on by booksellers.