Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis (2015): A Review

September 29, 2025

Title: Fifteen Dogs

Author: André Alexis

Publication Year: 2015

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pages: 171

Source: ebook

Genre: Fable, Allegory, Literary fiction, fantasy, Philosophical fiction

Awards: Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, shortlisted for a Toronto Book Award

Opening Sentence: One evening in Toronto, the gods Apollo and Hermes were at the Wheat Sheaf Tavern.

It has taken me weeks to find the words to write about this book, and even now, my heart feels unbearably heavy. This is a small book, but its sorrow is vast. The story begins with two gods, restless and detached, making a wager: If dogs were granted human intelligence, would they die happy? The premise almost sounds playful, but the reality is devastating. From the very first pages, grief settles in, and it only deepens as the story unfolds. Just when you think the suffering has reached its limit, the narrative finds a way to break your heart further—until, like me, you find yourself weeping over the fates of Majnoun and Prince, especially Majnoun.

Within these pages, the pain is not gratuitous. The novel forces us to confront profound questions: What does it mean to be conscious? To love? To suffer? It explores intelligence, language, poetry, the bonds of friendship and the cruelties of the pack, violence, and the deep hypocrisies that haunt both human and here the world of these unique dogs. These are the wounds and wonders of existence, made all the more haunting because they are seen through the eyes of beings who once knew only innocence.

I will never look at dogs the same way again. The author has left a mark on me that feels almost like grief—a story that lingers, raw and unresolved. I cannot forgive the author for that, and I mean it as the highest compliment. There are books that entertain, and there are books that leave you changed. This is one that quietly broke something inside me. I wish those gods could experience the worst possible sorrow they so carelessly unleashed.