In THREE WILD DOGS (and the truth), the bestselling and award-winning author of THE BOOK THIEF offers “the truth” --- about his family life, his private feelings, and three dogs who impacted both realms.

Markus Zusak and his wife, Mika, decided that their toddler daughter, Kitty, needed a dog after seeing how the little girl interacted with a rescued animal belonging to friends. Mika went to work on the project and located Reuben. This resonated with Zusak as he had written three novels with a central character by that name. Reuben, whose origins were unknown, was huge; he had a blackened nose and an unpredictable nature. Kitty adored him, but when Zusak took him for morning walks, Reuben was capable of doing anything --- including attacking other animals and the occasional human, even his master.

"Life with these big, bounding, unpredictable beasts was the impetus for Zusak's highly readable memoir, his first foray into nonfiction. Photographs of the three hairy hero-villains add zest to the narrative, which is both humorous and sage."

When son Noah was born, he too developed a cheerful relationship with the big beast. So despite numerous trials --- “random acts of violence” --- Reuben stayed with the family and was later joined by another homeless companion, Archer, aka Archie. Archie was golden and more overtly affectionate than Reuben, but equally complex. Together they killed a cat they seemed to regard as “some foreign interloper”; Reuben dragged a possum from a high tree, and Archie attempted to devour its bony frame; and Archie hijacked a frozen chicken meant for an Easter Sunday gathering.

Their bond was both “exhilarating and frightening,” once leading to an attack on the children’s music teacher. Yet they remained in the household until illnesses overtook them. Afterwards, inevitably and understandably as it would seem to fellow dog lovers, the family took in another furry drifter, Frosty, who had as many canine idiosyncrasies as his predecessors.

Life with these big, bounding, unpredictable beasts was the impetus for Zusak's highly readable memoir, his first foray into nonfiction. Photographs of the three hairy hero-villains add zest to the narrative, which is both humorous and sage. They draw on the rich fodder that animal behaviors so often evoke, penned by a practiced, popular wordsmith. As so sweetly defined in the Epilogue, “it’s their breath and fur and stink and eyes. It’s how they rub up against you. Knowing it, telling it.”

Zusak is offering his many readers --- and pet lovers perhaps new to his work --- a view of what goes on behind the scenes in the household of a dedicated writer. This is punctuated by a lively look at how pets can and do affect the dynamics of family, neighborhood and the human heart.