Film and television writer Edmont went to Paris for graduate school and stayed, "out of school, out of work, and an outsider in a very closed society." But the arrival of a liver-spotted Dalmatian named Jarny– Prince du Bois–de-Tanagra, nicknamed JP, at his sixth-floor walkup in Montmartre soon changed his life. "The very first day I walked JP around the quartier, the world became more intimate with me, almost absurdly so.... JP became my golden key to practically every bar, café, and restaurant in Paris... and eventually my passport to all of France." When the "mad, absolutely mad" Dalmatian breeder Madame Clix phoned wanting JP to sire puppies in southern France, Edmont set out across the French countryside on his Vespa with the well-mannered, goggle-wearing dog riding on the scooter's foot rest. Escaping from gendarmes who detained the duo so they could research "the legality of dogs on scooters," man and dog received white magic and a moped repair from witches en route to Lourdes. With occasional phone calls from Clix, the pair passed medieval towns and lovely vistas, met friendly locals and dined everywhere, from a riverside pique-nique
to open-air cafes and five-star restaurants. Yet they hurried, because the "nitty-gritty side of canine ovulation" meant a brief window of opportunity. The book's lighthearted lilt, with French phrases sprinkled throughout, could delight dog-lovers and Francophiles, while others may find the anthropomorphic aspects (e.g., "JP looked at me sideways, knowing I'd uttered some kind of untruth") contrived. Edmont's meandering, lightweight restaurant guide and travel diary is in a writing style that varies from coy to cloying. Map, illus. (Sept.)
Forecast:Along with a national broadcast and print media campaign and a Vespa giveaway, Edmont's 16-city dog-and-scooter tour is certain to attract attention.
