My Dog: The Paradox: A Lovable Discourse about Mans Best Friend by Matthew Inman

My Dog: The Paradox: A Lovable Discourse about Mans Best Friend Reviews

• 
  Patrick

  I love the Oatmeal's comics, and I love reading things to my little boy, so it seemed completely natural for me to try sharing this book with my little boy.
  
  It... didn't work out so well. As I started reading, I realized that a lot of the humor wouldn't make sense to him, or would just be in appropriate.
  
  The one exception was the comic about the dog eating its own poop. We had a good laugh together over that. Apparently poop-eating is a universal constant in terms of humor....
  
• 
  Kelly (and the Book Boar)

  "The Oatmeal" should NOT make a person cry. But it did.
  
  RIP to my beloved Potter. I still miss you every single day.
  
  
  (just like a human, she blinked almost every time her picture was taken)
  
  Also to the current little assholes who reside in my house and heart:
  
  
  
  Harvey
  
  and
  
  
  
  Bad Bad Leroy Brown
  
  I still love Mitchell more than both of you. He has never pooped in the house.
  
  
  
  
• 
  Sam Quixote

  Matthew “The Oatmeal” Inman waxes amusingly on his beloved dog, and on dog ownership in general, in My Dog: The Paradox. Every dog owner reading this will see their pet’s behaviour mirrored here, particularly, if you have a small dog like me who likes lying down in awkward areas around the house, when you accidentally kick them and they act like they should be apologising to you!
  
  It’s been a long time since I’ve seen them do this (since the cats died) but, like Inman’s, my dogs used to eat cat shit occasionally, though I don’t know why he’s surprised that his dog won’t eat broccoli – whose does?! Veggies aren’t for canines – hell, I know more than a few humans who turn their noses up at healthy greens! And my dogs are also sensitive to loud noises (even heavy rain) but quite happily charge towards motorbikes when they appear!
  
  Maybe I’d have liked this better if I hadn’t recently read Inman’s other dog book, If My Dogs Were a Pair of Middle-Aged Men, which is similar in content but funnier. Also, this book is very, very short. Still, it’s full of cute, enjoyable observations about the strange, adorable creatures many of us live with and who bring so much happiness with their companionship.
• 
  Dirk Grobbelaar

  So I purchased this after reading
  Melki's Review which was really short and sweet and just piqued my interest.
  
  I can only say "Amen" and paraphrase the tag-line for Wayne's World:
  
  I laughed, I cried, I hurled!
  
• 
  Patricija || book.duo

  Me: skaitau The reader: ai, gali būt ir geriau.
  Also me: skaitau 10psl knygelę apie šuniuką: wow masterpiece, cried like 6 times, wow, šunys patys geriausi, o šitas dar ir storas, hahahh
• 
  Nicky

  This is an adorable little comic! It's short, sweet and funny. And even so, still very touching.
  (If you've ever had a dog that does unfathomably weird and disgusting things, but you loved them whole-heartedly anyway, you'll know what I mean.)
  
  
  
  It's not really a tale, more like a collection of ruminations and observations about the funny, absurd, an contradicting things dogs do, in the form of a comic book/picture book for "horsebeasts"...er, I mean humans.
  And I can't forget to mention that the little dog in the book is A-DOR-ABLE.
  
  
  "A
  www..."
  
  "Oh great, the dog got out again... Get back over here you stupid dog!"
  
  Loosing man's best friend is inevitable and by no means hilarious, but Inman calls to mind all the wacky and hilarious bright moments that those furry little monsters enrich our lives with while they're here. :)
  
  I'm definitely a fan of Matthew Inman now. His comics are hysterically funny. Check them out at
  The Oatmeal!
• 
  carol.

  I discovered
  The Oatmeal during a charity campaign that resulted from creator Matt Inman's internet kerfluffle about an online news aggregator site using his material. After Inman complained, the site owner sent him a letter alleging defamation and demanding $20,000. Inman responded
  in typical mocking fashion starting a donation campaign on Indiegogo for American Cancer Society and National Wildlife Federation. I started following him out of admiration for someone that had a just cause and took it a step higher. (Although this has nothing to do with the book, Goodreads, it does show that authors' behavior can influence reading both positively and negatively).
  
  When he first posted My Dog: The Paradox, I laughed so hard, I cried. Seriously. There's something perfectly twisted about his description of dogs, their bravery, their fears, their obsessions and their devotions.
  
  Part of the endearment is the drawing style, a MS Paint basic shapes in which the dog mostly resembles a snack-size Snickers bar. Recently Matt posted a picture of his drawing style through the years, and his earliest one was photograph quality. You wouldn't know it, but he's actually artistically talented. Of course, it also takes talent to use bug eyes to convey expression, but it's a different kind. The book version of My Dog is nicely colored, substituting color for his finely shaded webcomic greyscale. He first published it in a poster, but when the book version came out, I had to have it.
  
  Inman is a little vulgar, but I confess I find it adds to the humor. Take the "My dog has absolutely zero interest in being clean" page, of a little dog rolling in fresh horse poop. It's facing page? "unless it concerns his testicles." Not only true, but hysterical in the cartoon, which is a chalkboard presumably written by his dog that includes "Today's Agenda: 11 am lick balls. get them sooper clean. 12pm lick balls. even moar clean." Then there's the chain cartoon of the process of a dog eating poop, vomiting, eating it it again, then pooping it out. If you don't believe this actually happens, check a pet store for all the products that are supposed to make poop taste bad. Gross? Absolutely. True? Totally.
  
  Then there's the list of things his dog eats that includes pencils and bees, coupled with a cartoon of a puzzled dog staring at a plate of broccoli. If you have a dog, you know this experience. For instance, my Labrador has to take pills every morning. Won't touch them unless they are concealed in cheese or peanut butter. But the one time I dropped an ibuprofen by her? Gone in 5 seconds (and it required following it with an emetic, since ibuprofen is toxic to dogs).
  
  After making you laugh so hard your muscles hurt, he goes for the gooey center, the enthusiasm dogs have for their human owners, whether we're gone for 4 hours or 4 minutes, and the sadness we have that their lives are so short.
  
  Read it online here:
  My Dog: The Paradox. But I highly suggest supporting his work in some monetary fashion, because not only is he funny, he's willing to be emotionally and ethically brave.
• 
  Sagar

  I always thought about dogs having the lifespan of tortoises and now this book gives more food for that thought. It was very relatable for a dog person :)
• 
  Kristen Pesta

  So sweet!
• 
  Melki

  Best damned dog book EVER!
• 
  Susan Paxton

  You will laugh hysterically, you will weep. Matt Inman, aka "The Oatmeal," has captured in a few pages the mystery and wonder of our canine friends. Based on his dog Rambo, here drawn as a kind of furry burrito with legs and a tail, Inman ponders why dogs eat crap but not vegetables, how they react the same way when we return after 4 seconds or 4 hours, their bizarre fears and fearlessnesses, and their mortality. A great gift, I think, for someone dealing with dog mortality, or for anyone who loves and is confused by their dog. A small warning is that some might find the language off-putting.
  
  3/30/2021 - it breaks my heart to have to add that Rambo died, age 13, on 3/29/2021. How can you weep for a dog you never met?
• 
  M. Carrie

  The "War and Peace" of poop-eating dog books. Almost unbearably suspenseful, what with the horsebeast and all. You'll laugh. You may cry. You may laugh so hard you cry. And then you'll think really hard before letting your dog lick your face.
  
  Seriously, I hope this guy makes a gazillion dollars and goes to live happily on a tropical island with beautiful ladies feeding him exotic sherbets.
• 
  Lata

  I've never lived with dogs, but Matthew Inman had me laughing out loud at his funny, rude and touching portrait of these furry beasts. Drawn resembling a bread loaf with bug eyes, Inman shows dogs' enthusiasm for, well, everything, except in the case of one his dogs' inability to stare a cat in the eyes. (I can totally imagine the expression on the cat's face :) )
• 
  Karen

  For a book that can be read in less than 5 minutes (a time frame that allows for lingering on every one of its 32 pages - THIS is how I will reach my reading goal), I laughed and laughed! The comic is freely available on
  The Oatmeal, but it is funnier in color in book form with a surprise and a laugh at every turn of the page. When my husband and I were broke, we used to pick out books for each other at the public library as presents-for-a-week. This is exactly the kind of thing I would have brought home for him. I feel a trip to the library coming on. Good thing I work at one.
  
  This review is dedicated to Ozzy, my blind, cancer-surviving pug, who deserves a comic of his own - the superhero kind.
• 
  Crawley

  Fact: Oatmeal created a better love story in 32 pages than Twilight did in 4 books..
• 
  Jackie

  As a first time dog owner I related to this so hard. Just like cats, dogs have their own quirks which Matthew Inman captures hilariously. I think any animal lover can appreciate this book. It's a quick, fun read. Although, I will mention this is a tad inappropriate for kids, so I wouldn't recommend it unless they are older or you are okay with some raunchy humor (ex. ball licking & humping).
  
  And because I'm am unapologetic dog mom here's my little fur baby helping me do yoga:
  
• 
  Deniz

  Your heart's gonna melt even if you don't have a dog friend. 😍
• 
  Vio

  I mean, yeah, it was funny and everything, but way too short to ”feel the love”. So, sorry, not my favourite, but a good chance for a reread ;) given its length (or shortness? :D), when time is pressing and you want to have more books read in a certain year or smth. :)
  
  More like 2,5*. But with potential. :) (Do people say this?) (Also, who I am talking to? Ah, nevermind.)
• 
  Margaux

  AW!!!
  
  
  First of all, THE OATMEAL.
  Second of all, Dogs.
  Third and finally, this was adorable. I hope Yoshi never dies and when he does I'm going down too.
• 
  Lauren

  Read this at the book store and laughed out loud, and then almost cried. Then went home and hugged my pups. The Oatmeal is brilliant.
• 
  Maria

  3⭐ - It was good
  
  I don't understand why this is so highly rated.... I love Oatmeal's comics, they have that poop humor not everyone think is funny 😂🤭 but this was just... Some random things his dog does. Licking balls, eating shit... It lacked the humor I normally get... 😶
  It was still good, but very short
• 
  Fatima Farzeen

  Now I am seriously wishing I had a pet dog myself ! :'(
• 
  Larisa I.

  Awwww & ahahahahahah & ooooh sum this book up for me.
• 
  Neko~chan

  I love this book. I really love this book.
  
  I found the comic for this book online. Then I saw My Dog: The Paradox on the shelf of a local library. Needless to say, I didn't even hesitate before grabbing it off the shelf.
  
  I'm seriously considering the idea of giving an edition of this book to a friend- it's good enough to put a smile on anybody's face. The best thing about it is that I can completely relate to what Inman is talking about. One of my dogs are curled up on my lap right now.
  
  More would have been nice, though.
• 
  Kyrie

  I wanted to like the book more than I did.
• 
  Jackdaw ☄ Bronteroc

  ♪ Don't you know dog is man's best friend
  There is some love that you can't fight
• 
  Robyn

  
  
  
  
  OMG, this is just the cutest little book! It was short and very sweet and touches the heart of everyone that loved their dog. The book speaks to dog ownership in general and of course, specifically to boy dogs!
  
  I loved the artwork and the sentiment expressed. It will make you laugh and cry for sure. One part actually made me GAG...
  
  Really, really funny.
• 
  Rocio Marin

  It made me laugh...
• 
  Quỳnh

  Đỡ hơn cuốn con mèo. Có vẻ mình không hạp với khiếu hài hước của tác giả, sẽ dừng đọc truyện của ổng.
• 
  firdaous hably

  Wholesome 😢❤️