The Power of the Dog (Savage novel)

First edition (publ. Little, Brown)
Cover art by Milton Glaser

The Power of the Dog is a 1967 novel written by Thomas Savage. The story deals with two very different brothers named Phil and George, who live on a ranch in Montana, and the events following the marriage of George. Phil looks with disdain at George's new wife, Rose, and her son Pete, after which dramatic events begin to unfold.

Reception[]

Michelle Nijhuis from Literary Hub writes about the reception of the book: "Though published to critical acclaim, Thomas Savage's 1967 novel, The Power of the Dog, sold poorly and was largely forgotten until its republication in 2001, after which it began to be appreciated as a regional classic". She describes the novel as "spare, chilling, and finely crafted, and while its action feels as fated as a Greek epic, it still manages to shock".^[1]

In her afterword to the book, author Annie Proulx describes The Power of the Dog as a "literary artwork" and an influence on her works like "Brokeback Mountain".^[2]

Film adaptation[]

The book was adapted into a 2021 film of the same name written and directed by Jane Campion. She described that she was not able to put it down and afterwards kept thinking about it: "When I made a move to find out who had the rights, that's when I knew it had got me. I needed to do it."^[3] The film stays generally close to the book.^[4]

Literature[]

• Sue Hart: Thomas and Elizabeth Savage. Boise State University Western Writers Series No. 119, Boise/Idaho 1995.
• O. Alan Weltzien: "Thomas Savage: Forgotten Novelist" In: Montana. The Magazine of Western History. Band 58, Nr. 4, Winter 2008, p. 22–41, 93–94.
• Alan Weltzien: "Literary Sociology in Montana Town: Novelist Thomas Savage Rewrites Old Dillon." In: Great Plains Quarterly. Band 37, Nr. 2. Spring 2017, p. 111–130.
• O. Alan Weltzien: Savage West: The Life and Fiction of Thomas Savage. University of Nevada Press, Reno/Las Vegas 2020, ISBN 978-1-948908-86-3.

References[]