Life & Opinion of Maf the Dog and His Friend Marilyn Monroe - Softcover

HMH hardcover, 2010
Previous ISBN 978-0-15-101372-2

A One-of-a-Kind Portrait of the Woman Behind the Icon, and the Dog Behind the Woman

“[Maf] will make your heart stop—as will O’Hagan’s writing, which is as clear and lovely as the Blonde Bombshell’s seductive laugh.”—Marie Claire

“A very real contender for the wittiest, wisest, most winning book of the year.”—Parade

In 1960, Frank Sinatra gave Marilyn Monroe a dog. A scrappy Maltese Terrier, Maf was with Marilyn the last two years of her glittering but turbulent life. He had an instinct for celebrity. For politics. For psychoanalysis. For liver treats with a side order of National Biscuits. And here, through his eyes, ears, and wet nose, O’Hagan offers us a Marilyn that no paparazzo, devotee, or lover could, in a rollicking and revelatory voice worthy of her legacy.

“Maf the Dog, like Lolita, like The Great Gatsby, is a threnody for lost innocence. Maf is a shrewd observer of the modern age and of the American century.”—John Banville

“A marvelously entertaining, smart and insightful look at stardom, loneliness and loyalty . . . O’Hagan turns that little dog into an engaging, witty and often surprising narrator.”—St. Petersburg Times

ANDREW O’HAGAN was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His previous novels have been awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the E. M. Forster Award.