An artist needs a companion with emotional intelligence and innate curiosity, but also the capacity to rest contentedly for many hours—in other words, a dog. Here Helen Humphreys offers a memoir of the writing life told through the dogs she has lived with and loved over a lifetime, including Fig, her Vizsla puppy. Interspersed are stories of other authors and their own irreplaceable companions: Virginia Woolf and Grizzle, Gertrude Stein and Basket, Thomas Hardy and Wessex.