Zali's Dog

By: Adam Wilson

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

Length: 31 mins

Publisher's summary

A new story from the author of Sensation Machines.

Philip and his girlfriend Beth were seniors in high school when they chose adoption for their son. Now, years later, Beth has moved to Palo Alto - and on with her life - but Philip still lives in town. He works a job he hates so he can be near Olaf, who knows him as “uncle”.

On the morning of Olaf’s 14th birthday party, Philip hears his neighbor Zali’s dog, Sinai, barking on the other side of the fence. Philip scales the fence and finds the dog tied to a tree with a belt, hungry and scared. Not knowing what else to do - and not wanting to miss his son’s party - Philip stages Sinai’s escape and drops him off at a local shelter.

At the party, a gift that Philip gives Olaf exacerbates tensions between him and the boy’s parents, leaving Philip feeling unmoored. And when Zali abruptly returns from his mysterious absence to find Sinai missing, Philip must try to retrieve the dog before it’s too late. From Adam Wilson, author of the acclaimed novel Sensation Machines, Zali’s Dog is a darkly funny and oddly affecting story about the lengths we’ll go to protect our hearts. 

©2021 Adam Wilson (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.

Unfinished

I didn't care for the storyline of the father and son, but I was very interested in what happened to the dog. The story ends abruptly and, spoiler alert, we have no idea what happened to the dog. I am not the kind of reader who wants to make up my own ending. I sometimes make up an alternate ending but I don't like it when a story just stops without resolving anything. This felt more like a chapter than a story.

Brief Free Story

Disappointed by the quality of the writing... overly conversational but in different voices for the single narrator, it seemed more like a writing exercise than a polished short story. I did not connect with the sense of humor.

So...what happened to the dog

I do love Audible Originals and this story maintained that high-level of performance and story. The ending was a let down though. You can't have a story about Zali's dog and not tell us what happened to the dog?! Still, I enjoyed the listen.

Uninspiring and banal

At least it was included in my plan so I didn’t waste a credit on it.

A rambling excerpt from a messed up person's day

What was the point? A middle school teacher would hand this back for a rewrite. A high school teacher would give it a "D" (giving credit for effort) and move on.

"Free" is the appropriate price, but why offer it at all?

A man's guilt

Love how it ends. The main character's guilt is not only tied to the dog, but to his past choices and what he have up.

was just ehhh

not really sure where the story was going. it went well but the story didn't catch me...

Porn-Mag for 14yr Olds B-Day Party????!!!! No Go!

This book started out a little off but okay. Within mins they're describing a scene in which an uncle, (also biological father) to a 14yr old boy. Shows up at his B-Day party of an upper class family. With a Porno Mag in a paper bag. Giving it to the 14yr old who has just bluntly & disrespectfully asked about, "How to get pussy." The Uncle states his Father gave him a Playboy at 14yr as well. It's an absolutely demoralizing view of women. That the other continues to talk about as " There's just something about a magazine" versus the internet. Pornography changes the perception of female value, imply selfish acts of male superiority, & widely contributes to unsatisfied sex lives, inability of intimacy, & more & more inappropriate & often illegal forms of sexual gratification. The younger a child is exposed & the more normalized it is. The more complicated & very confusing relationship they will have with sexuality, reality, & pornography. Not into books that set ppl up to become pedophiles at 14yr because their dad did it to them. Even including a scenario in which it was highly inappropriate & out of place to do so. Thumbs Down on this listen, have some class in 2021.

Good story, too short

Good story but disappointed it wasn’t longer. I would encourage the author to continue to write!

How Not to Tell a Story

Inside this tale is a kernel of good, and its that the birth father LOVES his son enough to follow him and see him. That is where it ends for me. A real father doesn't discuss the p word with a fourteen year old in graphic terms, he talks about sex in a way that will make a boy want more from it than the physical. He doesn't give him a Playboy for his birthday. The birth father wants to be his son's FRIEND, not his father, and herein lies the problem. Parenting is NOT friendship, it is responsibility, it is sacrifice, it is figuring out how we went wrong, learning from it and trying our best to help our kids not repeat it.