Summary of Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 When I wake in the night, I call Vanessa because she isn’t armed. Van! Van, hey! I hiss across the room until she wakes up. Then Vanessa hands me the candle, and we pee sleepily into the flickering yellow light.

#2 The loo can be unpredictable. It can either refuse to flush at all or just gurgle and splutter water. It can be scary, but you have to get used to it.

#3 I can hear July setting tea on the veranda, and I can smell the first fresh singe of Dad’s morning cigarette. I balance Fred on my shoulder and come out for tea: strong with no sugar, a splash of milk, the way Mum likes it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jul 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822545137

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

When I wake in the night, I call Vanessa because she isn’t armed. Van! Van, hey! I hiss across the room until she wakes up. Then Vanessa hands me the candle, and we pee sleepily into the flickering yellow light.

#2

The loo can be unpredictable. It can either refuse to flush at all or just gurgle and splutter water. It can be scary, but you have to get used to it.

#3

I can hear July setting tea on the veranda, and I can smell the first fresh singe of Dad’s morning cigarette. I balance Fred on my shoulder and come out for tea: strong with no sugar, a splash of milk, the way Mum likes it.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

I was born in England, but I have lived in Rhodesia, Africa, and Malawi, and now in America. I am African, but not black. I was raised by Scottish parents, but I hate Scotland.

#2

The signature tune of the BBC’s World Service, Lilliburlero, was often heard on the afternoon light show. It was a rich, sweet, cooling, and melancholy time of day.

#3

I used to believe that African time was kind time. The dogs were lying in exhausted heaps on the furniture in the sitting room, with their paws over their ears. They looked up at me and Dad as we came through for our early morning cup of tea.

#4

When we got to Lusaka, Dad and I dropped off the generator at the Indian’s workshop on Ben Bella Road. We bought boiled eggs and slabs of white cornbread from a kiosk on the side of Cha Cha Cha Road, near the roundabout that led to Kafue, the Gymkhana Club, or home, depending on where we got off.

#5

I would be in heaven if I weren’t going back to school. I was in Africa with my parents, and I was enjoying it until my father had to give the customs official a