Paperback
Redemption stories of dogs reveal deeper truths about America.
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Dogs Save

Stories of Canine Redemption in US Culture

RRP$49.95

$48.66

  • Paperback

    256 pages

  • Release Date

    21 April 2026

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Summary

Stories about people and dogs saving one another are everywhere in US culture—on TV, in Hollywood movies, on social media, and even on bumper stickers. Yet these seemingly heartwarming stories of mutual rescue revolve around redemption through suffering, a narrative profoundly interwoven with Christian beliefs, white racial anxieties, and US national myths.

Katharine Mershon examines the unacknowledged religious underpinnings of stories about dogs, revealing deeply rooted cultural ass…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9780231206976
ISBN-10:0231206976
Author:Katharine Mershon
Publisher:Columbia University Press
Imprint:Columbia University Press
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:256
Release Date:21 April 2026
Weight:324g
Dimensions:140mm x 216mm
Series:Critical Perspectives on Animals: Theory, Culture, Science, and Law
A-Format
B-Format
Dogs Save by Katharine Mershon - ISBN: 9780231206976
140 × 216 mm
C-Format
A4
mm / in
What They're Saying

Critics Review

An urgent, necessary read for those seeking to understand our enduring intimacy with animals—a sacred bond that Mershon fearlessly examines. – Colin Dayan, author of With Dogs at the Edge of Life and Animal Quintet
In Dogs Save, Mershon reveals how the stories we tell about dogs are also stories about redemption, race, nation, and identity—stories that sometimes bring us closer to reality and sometimes distort it. Ultimately, Mershon illumines nothing less than the religious dimension of our lives with dogs—lives that include both joy and sorrow, projection and genuine intimacy. She eruditely helps us understand how dogs are symbolized, but in the end, Mershon’s most demanding request is that we attend to the dogs themselves. – Aaron Gross, author of The Question of the Animal and Religion: Theoretical Stakes, Practical Implications
Katharine Mershon offers a signal contribution to animal studies in religious history, showing how stories of redemption script human relationships to dogs. Whenever humans talk about their dogs they reflect on what lives are worth having. After you read Dogs Save, you will never think about animal freedom the same way again. – Kathryn Lofton, author of Consuming Religion

About The Author

Katharine Mershon

Katharine Mershon is assistant professor of philosophy and religion at Western Carolina University.

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