Book Review: Tobit's Dog

The Book of Tobit is one of the most underrated apocryphal books of the Bible, which is a shame. It's a fantastic, inspiring story with cinematic drama. It's a parable of marriage (which is why I had a passage read at my wedding.) It's also a road trip buddy comedy, with an inexplicable dog sidekick. There have been numerous references to this mysterious dog in later literature.

Via Ignatius Press Novels

In his new novel Tobit's Dog, Michael Nicolas Richard presents a creative retelling of the story that brings this canine companion to the forefront and even gives him a mystical role in the action. Richard's love for dogs is apparent in the way he describes the thoughts and mannerisms of Okra, the dog Tobit rescued from being drowned as a puppy. Ignatius Press recently sent me a copy of this book to review. 

The 1930s North Carolina setting seemed strange at first, but was more relevant once I looked back at scripture and recalled that the original Tobit was a civil servant during the Babylonian exile. The sharp racial divisions and prejudices of the Jim Crow South mimic the Israelites' struggle to flourish in a foreign land. Translating Tobit's charitable burying the dead into taking down the victim of an apparent lynching is a particularly powerful analogy.  It makes sense that one might need an angelic guide navigating this potentially hostile landscape.

I particularly enjoyed how Richard placed his Depression-era setting within its wider historical context, not a racist sheriff vacuum. The Philippine revolts, Spanish Civil War, and WWI all come up as formative past experiences for some characters. There is much discussion of immigration and the plight of Catholics in the Bible Belt. Young Tobias' mechanic skills and discussion of vehicles describe the material culture of an era where trucks and mule carts shared the road. Richard's narration avoids spelling out accents and dialect in a patronizing manner. His love for the cultural tapestry of his home state is clearly evident.

At its heart, the story of Tobit is about dealing with the difficulties of life and about good overcoming evil. That is evident not just in Tobit's family, but also in the lives of many supporting characters. Even the villains have graphic struggles with sin, weakness, and violence that flesh out the fable. My only complaint about these moral lessons is that Richard's villains reveal their demons in convenient showdown monologues straight out of a comic book.

Tobit's Dog reminded me of other Southern odysseys, particularly O Brother Where Art Thou, Lilies of the Field, and Walker Percy's The Last Gentlemen. Its narration is mostly plot driven, though, and lacks the lush lyricism of Percy or Flannery O'Connor. The first chapters of background information tend to drag. It's not clear why Richard takes great pains to explain how Tobit's ancestors were Berbers, not enslaved Africans. Other than a family trait of "Egyptian eyes" this unique back story doesn't serve much purpose. Once the initial exposition is done though, the pace picks up and pulls the reader into the fate of Tobit and his family. This may not be the next great Southern Catholic novel, but it's an exciting adventure.

This book is written for a Catholic audience, with many references to Stuff Catholics Like: nuns, Lourdes water, the Eucharist, and even anti-abortion sentiment. It's unlikely that the story would appeal or relate to a non-Catholic reader as well. Of course, the book of Tobit only appears in Catholic bibles, so maybe the point is moot. If you are a Catholic looking for a suspenseful read that helps you look at an Old Testament story in a new light, Tobit's Dog could be a good addition to your summer reading list.