J.R. Ackerley’s German shepherd Tulip was skittish, possessive, and wild, but he loved her deeply. This clear-eyed and wondering, humorous and moving book, described by Christopher Isherwood as one of the “greatest masterpieces of animal literature,” is her biography, a work of faultless and respectful observation that transcends the seeming modesty of its subject. In telling the story of his beloved Tulip, Ackerley has written a book that is a profound and subtle meditation on the strangeness abiding at the heart of all relationships.

A critically acclaimed animated feature film adaptation of My Dog Tulip was released in 2011.

Wryly comic and strangely moving. —Daily Mail

A beautiful evocation of the relationship between dog and owner, which doesn’t lapse into the sentimentality so common in the books that people write about their pets. –Sunday Telegraph