Fifteen Dogs (Tenth Anniversary Edition)

By: André Alexis

Narrated by: André Alexis

WINNER OF THE 2015 GILLER PRIZE

WINNER OF THE 2015 WRITERS’ TRUST FICTION PRIZE

A special edition celebrating the tenth anniversary of André Alexis’s modern masterpiece, with a foreword by Eileen Myles and an afterword by André Alexis.

— I wonder, said Hermes, what it would be like if animals had human intelligence.

— I'll wager a year's servitude, answered Apollo, that animals–any animal you like–would be even more unhappy than humans are, if they were given human intelligence.

A bet between the gods Hermes and Apollo leads them to grant human consciousness and language to a group of dogs overnighting at a Toronto veterinary clinic. Suddenly capable of more complex thought, the pack is torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old ‘dog’ ways, and those who embrace the change. The gods watch from above as the dogs venture into their transformed world, as they become divided, as each struggles with their new existence.

First published in 2015, now slightly revised and including an after-word by the author, this contemporary take on the apologue offers an utterly compelling and affecting look at the beauty and perils of human consciousness. By turns meditative and devastating, charming and strange, Fifteen Dogs shows you can teach an old genre new tricks.

©2015 André Alexis (P)2025 Coach House Books

Critic reviews

“[Alexis] devises an inventive romp through the nature of humanity in this beautiful, entertaining read … A clever exploration of our essence, communication, and how our societies are organized.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Alexis manages to encapsulate an astonishing range of metaphysical questions in a simple tale about dogs that came to know too much. The result is a delightful juxtaposition of the human and canine conditions, and a narrative that, like just one of the dogs, delights in the twists and turns of the gods’ linguistic gift.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Over the course of this novel, slim yet epic in scope, Alexis chronicles the fates of these strangely afflicted beasts, shifting from thought experiment to comic parable to something more delicate, laden with detail, discovery and emotional nuance.”—Globe and Mail