In conversation: Rob Perry & Chris Pearson

We're delighted to welcome two wonderful authors, and great supporters of The West Kirby Bookshop, Rob Perry and Chris Pearson, to celebrate the publications of their latest books, Dog and Collared.

Join us on Thursday 12th December, 7pm, when Rob and Chris will be reading from the their books, before being in conversation with Jordan from the bookshop, answering questions from the audience, and signing copies of Dog and Collared.
Tickets are £6 standard admissionm or £30 (including copies of both Dog and Collared).

Please note that this event is non-refundable, and if you can't make the talk and would like to reserve signed/dedicated copies of either books, email [email protected] and we'll be happy to help.

We're looking forward to seeing you there!

About Dog:

'I don’t really like dogs, but I absolutely loved this book.'
― John McGregor, author of Lean Fall Stand

'This outsider fable of friendship and human-animal connection wields a comforting deadpan charm.' ― Tom Benn, author of Oxblood
'Dog is a novel full of deft humour and escalating tenderness – a tale about misfits, human and canine, and the currents of hope and courage that bring them together.'
― Ross Raisin, author of God's Own Country

The moving story of a life-changing relationship between a boy and a dog.

When 18-year-old Benjamin Glass goes to look at a dead whale that has washed up on the beach, he meets an unfamiliar dog who follows him home to his caravan. Benjamin isn’t equipped to take care of a dog – he has a chronic fear of germs, and is currently living alone while his grandmother is in hospital.

But when a delivery driver recognises the dog as The Mighty Gary, the fastest greyhound in the country, and tells Benjamin about his unsavoury owners, Benjamin is forced to trust the stranger on his doorstep and devise a plan to keep Gary safe.

As Benjamin becomes more attached to the dog, it becomes clear that his trust in the delivery driver may well have been misplaced. He will have to leave his comfort zone, take some unhygienic risks, cross paths with dangerous and powerful men and confront his very worst fears if he has any hope of protecting what he loves the most.

About Collared:

'Essential reading.' ― John Bradshaw, author of In Defence of Dogs
'Fascinating.' ― Telegraph
'Thought-provoking and often surprising' ― Country Life

Dogs are our constant companions: models of loyalty and unconditional love for millions around the world. But these beloved animals are much more than just our pets - and our shared history is far richer and more complex than you might assume.
Here, historian and dog lover Chris Pearson reveals how the shifting fortunes of dogs hold a mirror to our changing society, from the evolution of breeding standards to the fight for animal rights. Wherever humans have gone, dogs have followed, changing size, appearance and even jobs along the way - from the forests of medieval Europe, where greyhounds chased down game for royalty, to the frontlines of twentieth-century conflicts, where dogs carried messages and hauled gun carriages.
Despite vast social change, however, the power of the human-canine bond has never diminished. By turns charming, thought-provoking and surprising, Collared reveals the fascinating tale of how we made the modern dog.

About Rob Perry:

Rob Perry was born in 1987. He is a graduate of the UEA Creative Writing program. In 2020, his novel Dog was shortlisted and highly commended in the Peggy Chapman Andrews First Novel Award. In 2019 he was selected for the National Centre for Writing’s Escalator programme. He’s been shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize, the Bristol Short Story Prize and the Fish Short Story Prize. He won the Nottingham Short Story Prize and was first runner-up in the Moth International Short Story Prize and The Winston Fletcher Memorial Prize. Rob was a copywriter for several years, and has worked as a firefighter and a weightlifting coach. He lives in the Peak District.

About Chris Pearson:

Chris Pearson is Professor of Environmental History at the University of Liverpool. A specialist in human-animal history, he is the author of Dogopolis and a contributor to Dog Hearted: Essays on Our Fierce and Familiar Companions. He is currently researching the lives of Indian street dogs in a project funded by the Wellcome Trust. He lives in Chester with his family and his Bedlington-Whippet, Cassie.

Host or Publisher The West Kirby Bookshop