Book Review: Tobit's Dog by Michael Nicholas Richard

Book Review:  Tobit's Dog by Michael Nicholas Richard

Although I am familiar with writers such as Flannery O'Connor, whose work is infused with and informed by her Catholicism, but is not overtly Catholic, I was only moderately aware of a growing genre of writing for Catholic audiences by Catholic writers that is more overtly Catholic.  So, it has been an extremely happy opportunity to read and review Tobit's Dog by Michael Nicholas Richard for Ignatius Press.

Tobit's Dog parallels the biblical Book of Tobit, a book commonly excluded from non-Catholic Bibles as non-canonical. The Book of Tobit offers a parallel story of Sarah, a young woman whose fiancés each mysteriously die, labeling her a cursed woman, and Tobit's son Tobiah, who is sent to collect a debt owed to his father.  Catholics consider the Book of Tobit a precursor to the wisdom books, and support for the Church's teachings of the purity of marriage and the intercession of angels (809).

Set in the Jim-Crow south, Tobit's Dog chronicles the Messager family's experiences through the patriarch Tobit and his sole son Tobias as they attempt to seek justice for a brutally murdered boy from their community.  Okra, Tobit's rescued dog companion, accompanies both men as they do their parts in pursuing justice for Jamie.  Police corruption, domestic violence, homophobia, and racism provide the backdrop, which allows faith, hope, and love to ultimately transcend and lead to a modicum of justice for Jamie, but also for Tobias, Tobit, the deputy sheriff Del, and the mechanic Crafty.  

Things I Loved:

1.  Layering the ugliness in with the beauty of this world:  As Catholics, we know that the things of our earthly world are not ultimately worthwhile or lasting.  We know that our earthly world is neither fair, nor kind.  We know that justice often is skewed during our lifetimes. However, we also know that our God has given us beautiful, awe-inspiring moments in our lives. We know that the beautiful things are ways we can see God's presence.  We also know that the ugliness is evidence of man's sinfulness, our choices to turn our back on Him.  There are so many beautiful moments in this story and they are juxtaposed against a story of brutal degradation, and, like our real lives, these beautiful moments are invitations to see God's work in our lives not as a puppet-master, but as our loving Father providing a shoulder to lean on in the hard times.  Although we work hard to make our world better, we also must acknowledge that our world will never be perfect, and Richard's novel gets at the heart of this paradox.

2.  Unapologetically Catholic moments:  Discussions of the outward signs of our faith abound in this novel.  Holy water, incense, mass, Eucharist, burial of the dead, and angels are all integral components of the story. Emphasizing these outward signs is the understanding we Catholics have that we are imperfect in everything we do, but we persevere in our love for our God and, through Him, our love for our fellow man.  What I think is wonderful about this element is that these concepts are not fully explained in this text; it is not a teaching text after all but a novel.  However, if a non-Catholic reads this novel, he or she will become intrigued by the mention of these things, hopefully interested enough to ask questions and not rest in uninformed presumptions, to investigate further the beauty of our Catholic faith.  And, Catholics who read this novel will be reminded of the beautiful elements of our faith that we too often take for granted.

3.  Tobit's willingness to do the right thing:  From the beginning, when Tobit rescues Okra and his siblings from drowning, Tobit exhibits strength of character that is inspiring.  Tobit faces significant challenges--a crooked sheriff, blindness, persecution, and incarceration--and never opts for the easy way out.  Tobit's prayers remind us that God is not a wish granter, but we can rely on God to walk with us in our troubles.  This reminds me what I have always told my children:  the right thing to do is often the most difficult thing to do, and that is how you know it is the right thing to do.  Tobit's humanity shows through, too.  He is a man of faith, but he is also a man.  He wishes his blindness would go away; he wishes his son did not have to leave him; he wishes the white deputy sheriff had more backbone.  He doesn't doubt God's presence or justice; more correctly, he questions other men's actions.  Tobit's actions throughout the story are a constant reminder that "Thy will be done" even though he never once iterates that phrase.  

4.  Infusing of biblical narrative into contemporary fiction:  One of my favorite subgenres is novels that take on the stories of Biblical characters, especially lesser-known characters, and fill in their backstories or provide new perspectives on the events in their story.  Tobit's Dog reminds me of a class I took at CSUSM by Dr. Madeline Marshall (The Bible as Literature) for which I wrote a paper about the women "missing" in the narratives of the Bible. The women are mentioned, but we rarely hear directly from them, and I always want to know more about them.  Although Tobit's Dog does not attempt to retell the Biblical story of Tobit, Tobias, and Sarah, it does use those characters and elements of the Biblical story to create a new narrative infused with the model of the Book of Tobit.  Additionally, the nominal focus on Tobit’s dog (Okra) provides something for dog-loving America to connect with.  This all combines to create an interesting, engaging original narrative.

One Thing I Liked Less:

Not enough of the title character:  Okra is a wonderful character, but there is simply not enough of him in the story.  Perhaps it is my recent rereading of The Art of Racing in the Rain and my familiarity with Marley and Me that have led me to expect more from a dog in a story.  However, Okra is a great character, but his role is too limited.  I would have loved to see more of Okra as an agent of action, especially given that he is the title character, but perhaps that would be imposing an element of “untruth” that Richard did not want to play with.  True, there is an element of realism in Okra as he is, and there is a beautiful homage to Okra at the end when Tobias reminisces that Okra's eyes were always a reminder of his father's (Tobit's, but also God the heavenly father) presence.  I can’t help but feel that developing Okra's presence in the novel more throughout the text would have reinforced and enriched a beautiful message.

Tobit’s Dog is a moving look at how a man’s faith sustains him.  Tobit’s Dog reminds us that in an era of blatant racism, there are those who ignore the social customs and pursue decency in spite of the repercussions.  Tobit’s Dog also shows that a just man’s involvement is justified in helping to see that a young boy’s cruelly motivated murder.  Despite the sadness surrounding the story, there is an incredible light that emanates from the story, and this truly does imitate many of our own personal stories, making this novel a very good read.

Sources:

Richard, Michael Nicholas.  Tobit's Dog.  San Francisco:  Ignatius Press, 2014.  eBook.
Tobit.  New American Bible.  Revised Version.  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Ed.  Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.  eBook.