Reviews For "It's A Stray Dog's Life"

Stories from a Stray is a collection of twenty-two short stories by Maximillian Sam, told in first and third person perspectives which cover a number of different genres.

I highly enjoyed this author’s middle grade novels It’s a Stray Dog’s Life and It’s a Stray Dog’s Life 2 and was interested to see how he would approach writing stories for an older readership. The answer to that is with keen observation of human nature, coupled with suggestions for a better world and believable characters with wide-ranging opinions about everything from law and order, the sport of rugby, social media, life in Turkey and so much more. I found some of these characters were more relatable than others and particularly enjoyed the observations about stereotypical beachgoing lotharios wearing mirrored sunglasses and ‘budgie smugglers’ while talking on their mobile phones in “Tales From My Balcony”. “Tribute to a Friend” was extremely poignant and, I think, a true story. “The Dancing Table” (written by the author when he was eleven) ended with the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers! There is even a recipe for spicy lentil soup included in the book.

Stories From a Stray is an enjoyable anthology and I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author!