Max’s dream is to live in Paris and be a poet. But do you think it is easy for a dog to pack a small brown suitcase, put on a beret, and hop on a plane? Ha! No one will buy Max’s poems, so without money he must stay put. But living in New York City isn’t so bad. Where else could he have friends like Bruno, with his invisible paintings, or Marcello, who builds upside down houses? And where else could he drop in at Baby Henry’s Candy Shop? It’s all possible in New York, a jumping jazzy city. And for Max, it’s a dog’s life that only Maira Kalman could invent.
“In this bohemian celebration, Max the dog, the poet, the dreamer, is back. His struggle for acceptance since Hey Willy, See the Pyramids has not been easy–Max has had to post his poems on a wall at the corner of Pastrami and Salami Streets for his fellow New Yorkers to see. Even as he pines for Paris, Max admits that New York City is fine by him: “…a jumping, jazzy city, a shimmering, stimmering triple-decker sandwich kind of city.” In this unique blend of reality and fantasy, intermingled words and images seem influenced by such strange sources as Mamie Eisenhower’s wardrobe, the Jazz Age and the Theatre of the Absurd. Banter that rings with sophistication is well matched by the esoteric illustrative approach readers have come to expect from Kalman. Although there is much to glean from an unhurried single reading, this fanciful creation yields its greatest treasures through repeated visits.” – Publishers Weekly