These sardonic, wry, and sometimes playful stories, set in Toronto and the Indian subcontinent, describe the lives of people caught in diverse situations characterized by their recent unsettled, alien status. A disgruntled yoga teacher; an ardent epistolarian; a school custodian who has lost a winning lottery ticket; a young woman whose dentist may be touching her inappropriately; a disillusioned retiree obsessed by food; a chef dreaming of a chain of restaurants; a man who has turned away from religious fundamentalism–these and others find sustenance and exploitation, love and disillusion, and sheer luck as they attempt to locate meaning and weave historical order within their larger universe.

“Downward this Dog is a beautifully written, insightful testament to the bravery of ordinary life, exploring themes of religion, family, love, marriage, money, success and failure.”
–Lisa de Nikolits, author of No Fury Like That