Toronto: Coach House Press, (2015). An unusual novel by this award-winning writer who born in Trinidad and grew up in Canada. It begins with a bet between the gods Hermes and Apollo which leads them to grant human consciousness and language to a group of dogs who had been left overnight at a Toronto veterinary clinic. Suddenly capable of more complex thought, the pack is torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change. In awarding this book the Giller Prize, the jury commented "What does it mean to be alive? To think, to feel, to love and to envy? Andre Alexis explores all of this and more in the extraordinary Fifteen Dogs, an insightful and philosophical meditation on the nature of consciousness. Its a novel filled with balancing acts: humour juxtaposed with savagery, solitude with the desperate need to be part of a pack, perceptive prose interspersed with playful poetry. A wonderful and original piece of writing that challenges the reader to examine their own existence and recall the age old question, whats the meaning of life?" 171 pp. ISBN: 978-1552453056.