Yellow Dog

The three stories do, somewhat implausibly, converge at the novel's conclusion when it all comes out: why Xan is acting so strange, how the princess ended up in the video, and less convincingly, just what the hell is going on on that plane. To Amis's credit, there is no subject that he is unafraid to tackle. He is willing to challenge readers with uncomfortable situations to make a larger point. But, while Amis is tremendously skilled as a writer, it is never clear what he is doing here, which is a shame because sections of the book are downright unshakeable. Unfortunately, others are little more than a parody of themselves (i.e. an extended discussion on the current trends in the porn industry) so it's hard to take Yellow Dog as a serious criticism of machismo and equally as hard to read it as satire.