Sure, Boston Globe TV critic Matthew Gilbert watches Orange Is the New Black and Mad Men by night, but by day he has written an utterly charming book about how his distaste for dogs morphed into love for his own dog, Toby, who taught him that it’s okay for life, relationships, to get intimate and messy. OFF THE LEASH is his homage to Toby, and even non dog lovers will love such descriptions in his work as a pack of bulldogs running around like so many Winston Churchills and two dogs of different colors play-fighting and looking for all the world like clothes seen spinning through the porthole of a dryer.

Frankie Vanaria is a Boston University PhD student specializing in Hollywood cinema and film theory. Vanaria’s work focuses on how non-native filmmakers have worked to challenge dominant ideologies in order to give audiences alternative viewing experiences. Vanaria is particularly interested in the work of Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and wrote his MA thesis on del Toro’s work.