From Charles Portis, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of True Grit, The Dog of the South is a novel about a husband on a crazy road trip pursuing his runaway wife.
"Hilarious . . . A very American voice." —Bob Odenkirk, The Week
Ray Midge is waiting for his credit card bill to arrive. His wife, Norma, has run off with her ex-husband, taking Ray's cards, shotgun, and car. But from the receipts, Ray can track where they've gone.
He takes off after them, as does an irritatingly tenacious bail bondsman, both following the romantic couple's spending as far as Mexico. There Ray meets Dr. Reo Symes, the seemingly down-on-his-luck and rather eccentric owner of a beaten-up and broken-down bus, who needs a ride to Belize. The farther they drive, in a car held together by coat hangers and excesses of oil, the wilder their journey gets. But they're not going to give up easily.
"[Charles Portis] understood, and conveyed, the grain of America, in ways that may prove valuable in future to historians trying to understand what was decent about us as a nation." —Donna Tartt, New York Times Book Review
Praise
"The Dog of the South is a deadpan comic masterwork. It's about a Little Rock copy editor named Raymond Midge that embarks on a madcap journey into Central America in search of the coworker that ran off with his car and his wife... It's an underrated, idiosyncratic American novel."
—The StoryGraph, matthewcpeck
“The novel illustrates that the journey itself holds more significance than the destination, as Midge learns to navigate both absurdity and disappointment. The narrative captures Portis's unique ability to blend humor with poignant reflections on life, relationships, and the human experience.”
—Magill's Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
