A Marriage in Dog Years

Reluctant to accept the fate of her ailing dog and failing marriage, playwright Balbirer (Take Your Shirt Off and Cry) recounts a year trying to save both in this funny but often irritating memoir. Balbirer’s devotion to Ira the beagle leads her to “daydream about what he’d be like if he were human... good-natured, affectionate, romantic,” while lamenting the state of her marriage in its 11th year: “Sam and I hadn’t had sex in several years.” Balbirer resolves Ira’s woes with an expensive medical treatment, then pawns a Tiffany necklace—a gift from Sam—to cover the exorbitant vet bills, but she’s less successful when it comes to her marriage. She tries couples therapy, Wiccan remedies, candied aphrodisiacs, and even restyles her living room into a “loving room” only to see Sam move out. Complicating matters, the couple closes the restaurant they own together, and Sam admits to cheating with “some chick from Miami.” Meanwhile, Balbirer and Sam try to keep their young daughter in the dark about their trial separation. Balbirer’s confession “that I still hold out hope [Ira’s death] will bring us back together” is an authentic moment in a narrative marred by awkward chronological shifts and self-indulgent rumination. Her indecisiveness regarding her dog of a husband and her terminally-ill pet makes for an overlong, overanxious memoir, no matter how one counts the years. (June)