Carmen Dog — Carol Emshwiller

“Combines the cruel humor of Candide with the allegorical panache of Animal Farm.” -- Entertainment Weekly

"Carol is the most unappreciated great writer we've got. Carmen Dog ought to be a classic in the colleges by now . . . It's so funny, and it's so keen."
-- Ursula K. Le Guin

“A rollicking outre satire.... full of comic leaps and absurdist genius.” -- Bitch

“A wise and funny book.” -- The New York Times

"This trenchant feminist fantasy-satire mixes elements of Animal Farm, Rhinoceros and The Handmaid's Tale.... Imagination and absurdist humor mark [Carmen Dog] throughout, and Emshwiller is engaging even when most savage about male-female relationships." -- Booklist

"Her fantastic premise allows Emshwiller canny and frequently hilarious insights into the damaging sex-role stereotypes both men and women perpetuate."
-- Publishers Weekly

The debut title in our Peapod Classics line, Carol Emshwiller's genre-jumping debut novel is a dangerous, sharp-eyed look at men, women, and the world we live in.

Everything is changing: women are turning into animals, and animals are turning into women. Pooch, a golden setter, is turning into a beautiful woman -- although she still has some of her canine traits: she just can't shuck that loyalty thing -- and her former owner has turned into a snapping turtle. When the turtle tries to take a bite of her own baby, Pooch snatches the baby and runs. Meanwhile, there's a dangerous wolverine on the loose, men are desperately trying to figure out what's going on, and Pooch discovers what she really wants: to sing Carmen.

Carmen Dog is the funny feminist classic that inspired writers Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler to create the James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award.