I liked the idea, but I got bored. I didn't particularly like the way the main character (Marilyn Monroe's dog) talked. I can't quite place why, but I skipped around a lot. ( )

Narrated by Mafia Honey, the white Maltese owned by Monroe in the last years of her life. The dog explains his own grand lineage, and the various owners whose homes he shared, including Natalie Wood's mother and Frank Sinatra. He explains that dog's can not only read human emotions, but they also have a sort of psychic ability to know what a human is thinking. Dogs can read, which allows Maf to explain philosophy, art, history and psychiatry, while proving himself more self-aware than the majority of humans he lives with.
A reader might expect this to be a quick, rather cute read, but I found it somewhat annoying, as the point of the story seems to be more about the author showing off his knowledge of Maf's interests, such as philosophy, which makes the little dog into something of a know-it-all, and throwing in every famous person of 1960. Maf encounters Sammy Davis Jr, Lee Strasberg, Carson McCullers, Peter Lawford and Lillian Hellman. It's a Who's Who of the era that comes off as too long and the human characters are all surface. ( )

A literary novel narrated by Mafia Honey, or Maf, Marilyn Monroe's Maltese terrier. It's high-concept, it's well-executed, which is to say it's also tedious at times. The construct is that the animal kingdom is far wiser than humans — much abstract philosophizing ensues. The scenes that come alive are the ones with Marilyn, Frank Sinatra, Sammy and other Kennedy-era notables. ( )

In Andrew O' Hagan's latest novel, The life and opinions of Maf the dog and of his friend Marilyn Monroe, the central character is a small dog, called Mafia Honey, shortened to 'Maf'. The title, of course, is a direct reference to The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, gentleman by Laurence Sterne. Both books are satires.

Particularly, cat lovers may have had the notion that humans assume that animals are dumb, or even that animals pretend to be dumb in the presence of humans, while they have, in fact, a rich and intellectual life on a par with their owners. This is the main premise of The life and opinions of Maf the dog and of his friend Marilyn Monroe. Maf is Marilyn Monroe's pet dog, she dotes on and takes him everywhere. Throughout the novel, Maf is shown to be a highly intelligent "personality" with a taste and knowledge, even more refined than Marilyn. The dog can understand everything humans say, but, obviously, the humans cannot understand anything of what the dog communicates. Actually, Maf often displays typical dog behaviour, which is often described from two points of views; Maf's point of view as a civilized attempt to interact and communicate with other dogs or humans, and the point of view of Marilyn and her friends, who see nothing but typical dog behaviour.

Maf, originally from the UK, is a highly intelligent, sensitive and appreciative creature, interested in the arts, literature, philosophy and music. He discusses these matters, unsuccessfully, with Marilyn, and much more to his satisfaction with other dogs. The world of dogs is seen to largely mirror the world of humans, including all vanities and status. Thus, the satire works in two ways: it satirizes by taking on human behaviour as too seriously, and ridicules it by mirroring the human world in the world of pet dogs.

The world of dogs, as the reader gets to know it through the eyes, obviously, consists of a large number of illustrious dogs. There is as much canine names as names dropping of human celebreties. This names dropping is, of course, an integral part of the world of vanity, that surrounds a film star such as Marilyn Monroe. The only difficulty for the reader is that the novel is set within a very limited time-frame, namely the first few years of the 1960s, a period few modern readers are completely familiar with, and certainly will not know all names and characters. However, the general pattern of snobbery and socialite is clear, and universal.

Parts of the novel are hilarious, particularly the parts in the office of the psyciatrist, and certainly the first 100+ pages are very funny, and ver well-done. However, at 279 pages, the novel is just a little bit too long, to keep readers fully entertained, and particularly in the last 100 pages, the reader will often feel a bit bored, as the novelty wears off and the novelist tries hard to pull more rabbits out of the hat, to keep going and keep on being funny.

The life and opinions of Maf the dog and of his friend Marilyn Monroe is quite a break away from the earlier work of Andrew O' Hagan. It is light-footed humour, that may attract new readers, and certainly amuse regular readers of his work. Overall, very well done and definitely worth a try, even if not all of the novel is read or finished. ( )

I have only five things to say about this book...SO GLAD I AM FINISHED!!!!!! ( )