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The quirky premise of Carolyn Parkhurst's debut novel, The Dogs of Babel, is original enough: after his wife Lexy dies after falling from a tree, linguistics professor Paul Iverson becomes obsessed with teaching their dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Lorelei (the sole witness to the tragedy), to speak so he can find out the truth about Lexy's death--was it accidental or did Lexy commit suicide? In short, accelerating chapters Parkhurst alternates between Paul's strange and passionate efforts to get Lorelei to communicate and his heartfelt memories of his whirlwind relationship with Lexy. The first 100 pages or so bring to mind another noteworthy debut, Alice Sebold's brilliant exploration of grief, The Lovely Bones. Unfortunately, the second half of The Dogs of Babel takes too many odd twists and turns--everything from a Ms. Cleo-like TV psychic to an underground sect of abusive canine linguists--to ever allow the reader to feel any real sympathy for the main characters. Parkhurst's Paul Iverson can certainly be appealing at times, and his heartbreak is often quite palpable ("...for every dark moment we shared between us, there was a moment of such brightness I almost could not bear to look at it head-on.").But his mask-maker wife Lexy--Paul's driving inspiration--is a character whose spur-of-the-moment outbursts, spontaneous fits of anger, and supposedly charming sense of whimsy (on their first date, they drive from Virginia to Disney World, eating only appetizers and side dishes along the way), become so annoying and grating that it's hard to believe anyone could ever put up with her, let alone teach their dog to speak for her. Despite its cloying tone, The Dogs of Babel marks a notable debut. Parkhurst possesses a wealth of inspired ideas, and no doubt many readers will respond to the book, but one hopes that the author's future efforts will be packed with richer character development and less schmaltz. --Gisele Toueg

卡羅琳·帕剋絲特，美國著名暢銷書作傢。畢業於美利堅大學創作研究所。大學畢業後，曾經在書店工作三年，而後纔全心投入創作。她的作品散見於《北美評論》、《明尼蘇達評論》、《夏威夷評論》、《新月評論》。《巴彆塔之犬》是她正式齣版的第一部小說，甫一齣版即引起熱烈迴響，有書評傢說她具有強烈的阿言德風格：霧氣濃重的鬼魅深夜、古老的民間傳說、給予人如夢般的閱讀曆程；更有書評傢贊許她是美國新生代作傢之中最耀眼的一位。卡羅琳．帕剋斯特現今與丈夫及兒子住在華盛頓特區，第二本小說Lost & Found也已經在美齣版。

何緻和，1967年生於颱北。文化大學英文係，東華大學創作與英語文學研究所畢業。短篇小說曾獲聯閤報文學奬、寶島小說奬、教育部文藝創作奬。著有小說集《失去夜的那一夜》、長篇小說《白色城市的憂鬱》。另有《酸臭之屋》、《惡夢工廠》、《時間綫》、《人骨拼圖》、《戰爭魔術師》等十餘部譯作。目前正於輔仁大學比較文學研究所攻讀博士學位。