In a Land without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark: A Novel

by Jonathan Garfinkel

Overview

In his wildly ambitious and darkly funny debut novel, Jonathan Garfinkel probes the fractured nature of identity, the necessity of lies, and the bloody legacy of the Soviet Empire.  

Spanning generations, continents, and cultures, In a Land without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark is an electric tale about a nation trying to emerge from the shadow of the Soviet Union to embrace Western democracy. Driven by a complexly plotted mystery that leads from Moscow to Toronto to Tbilisi, punctuated by wild car chases and drunken jazz reveries, and featuring an eccentric cast of characters including Georgian performance artists, Chechen warlords, and KGB spies, Garfinkel delivers a story that questions the price of freedom and laughs at the answer.  

With exhilarating prose reminiscent of Rachel Kushner and more twists than a John le Carré thriller, In a Land without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark is a daring, nuanced, and spectacularly entertaining novel by an exceptional talent.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487004163
Publisher:	House of Anansi Press
Publication date:	02/21/2023
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

JONATHAN GARFINKEL is an award-winning playwright and author. His play House of Many Tongues was nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, and The Trials of John Demjanjuk: A Holocaust Cabaret has been performed across Canada, Russia, Ukraine, and Germany. His memoir, Ambivalence: Crossing the Israel/Palestine Divide, has been published in numerous countries to wide critical acclaim, and his long-form nonfiction has appeared in The Walrus, Tablet, the Globe and Mail, and PEN International, as well as Cabin Fever: An Anthology of the Best New Canadian Non-Fiction. Named by the Toronto Star as “one to watch,” Garfinkel is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the field of Medical and Health Humanities at the University of Alberta, where he is writing a memoir about life with type 1 diabetes and the revolutionary open-source Loop artificial pancreas system. He lives in Berlin.

What People are Saying About This

Rawi Hage

A clear-eyed, elucidating novel of the aftermath of the Soviet Union and the era’s devastating effects on lost, wandering lives. A great read.

Viken Berberian

Jonathan Garfinkel’s infectious humor and iconoclastic characters make In a Land Without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark an electric read. Replete with Chechen fighters and Russian snoops, one of the most memorable appearances is by former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili who ruminates on local car thieves and the importance of the rule of law as Georgia emerges from the collapse of the Soviet Union to embrace democracy.

Zoe Whittall

In a Land without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark is a gripping, often hilarious, thrill-a-minute romp. This is the kind of novel that will have you forgo sleep to find out what happens next, as decades of secrets and lies are revealed in hypnotic prose. A stunning debut.

Gary Barwin

Set in a real yet uncanny world, this gripping and deeply compelling story of love — for family, friends, and a free nation — is filled with secrets, discoveries, passion, and humour. Loyalty and betrayal are braided together in a riveting tale of how relationships and nations are never what they seem — and they both change continually, often in surprising and bewildering ways, yet move and inspire. With colourful characters and striking settings, In a Land without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark is a vivid howl of a novel.

author of Stalin’s Daughter: The E Rosemary Sullivan

Often outrageously funny and politically and philosophically astute, Garfinkel’s novel delves into the tragic history, dramatic geography, and exotic customs of Georgia, a country at the crossroads of East and West. In a Land without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark is a prescient and timely novel as Georgia’s neighbour Russia resumes its imperial project.

Claudia Dey

A wild, page-turner of a novel from the singular, seductive mind of Jonathan Garfinkel. In a Land without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark is bold and otherworldly, a serenade for a lost nation, a love song to revolution. Reminiscent of Jennifer Egan’s literary sleight of hand, and Rachel Kushner’s structural and intellectual daring, Garfinkel takes on the legacy of the Soviet Union via a multigenerational mystery, deftly leading us from Moscow to Tbilisi, Charlie Parker to Noam Chomsky, performance art to political theatre –– his humour cutting deeply and darkly through everything and everyone. A wholly electrifying debut from an exhilarating, rebel talent.

Editorial Reviews

This is a complex story with a theme of lies and deception in the Soviet Union, a land with a history of terror used to control the public. Garfinkel shows the chaos that ensues when a corrupt system falls apart, only to be replaced by one not fully realized.

Miramichi Reader

Cinematic … In a Land without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark is an entertaining, sometimes funny book, perhaps more Graham Greene than John le Carré … Garfinkel’s novel is at its best at high speeds, twisting through city streets and dirt tracks.

Literary Review of Canada

Suspense-driven prose that jumps through time and milks the temporal gap for dramatic tension. … Garfinkel navigates the complex environment of post-Soviet Georgia with confidence, drawing persuasively from the country’s political history to contextualize his characters’ personal narratives.

Quill & Quire