Dog People

As marriages crumble and careers falter, Doreen and Fanny join forces to create a dog/wolf hybrid. Along the way, Fanny comes to realize the banality of her life stems from her expectation that intimate relationships will compensate for her failures. After sex therapy with her husband Morgan, a near affair with prima dancer Renee, and a friendship-turned-romance with her employer, Fanny breaks free and takes back control over her life. In her latest work, Mazza deftly fuses The Truth About Cats and Dogs with Basic Instinct.

Cris Mazza is the author of How to Leave a Country, Your Name Here: ___, Exposed, Dog People, and Is It Sexual Harassment Yet? She was also co-editor of Chick-Lit: Postfeminist Fiction (1995), and Chick-Lit 2 (No Chick Vics) (1996). Mazza’s fiction has been reviewed numerous times in the New York Times Book Review, Wall Street Journal, Ms. Magazine, Chicago Tribune Books, Los Angeles Times Book Review, Voice Literary Supplement, and many other book review publications.

A native of Southern California, Cris Mazza grew up in San Diego County. She is a graduate of San Diego State University and Brooklyn College. Mazza has taught fiction writing at UC San Diego, and was Writer in Residence at Austin Peay State University and at Allegheny College. Since 1993 Mazza has lived outside Chicago. She is a professor in and director of the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In spring 2000 Mazza was the Chairholder in Creative Writing in the MFA program at the University of Alabama, and was an NEA grant recipient in 2000-2001.