Clara, the Early Years

August 31, 1998
Most of those who live with animals concede to their whims and finally admit who is pet and who is master. Kaufman (This Damn House!), Hollywood correspondent for Pug Talk magazine, knows who rules her life--Clara, an ebony pug, and Sophie, Clara's sister. "Who knew that small wrinkled dogs with pushed-in faces would prove to be the greatest commitment of my life?" asks Kaufman in this delightful book. Dubbing herself "the Official Pug Lollipop," the author extols the dog's virtues and relates its drawbacks with irony and compassion. She recounts visits to a breeder with a "Pug Wall of Glory," to "snooty" pet stores, to clothing stores and, with Clara, to TV and radio stations where the dog garners more attention than her human. By the book's conclusion, both Clara, "the little princess" who is wont to attack dogs 10 times her size, and Sophie need to learn to share the spotlight, as the author and her husband make a human addition to the family. After the taxing and hilarious adventure of adopting a foreign baby, Kaufman finds raising an infant not unlike raising a pug. Among her son Nicholas's first words are "Clara," proving that the pugnacious canine retains her claim on ruling the household. This memoir will charm anyone who loves dogs. As Kaufman notes, "Pugs are living proof that God has a sense of humor"--and so does the author, in spades. Agent, Loretta Fidel.