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April 17, 2026
Griefdogg by Michael Winkler review
Winkler’s latest novel is ambitious, compelling and bleakly comic; it scratches a metaphysical itch you didn’t realise you had
TL;DR
- Griefdogg is Michael Winkler's latest novel, following his award-winning essay and surreal novel Grimmish.
- The novel centers on Jeffrey Watson-Johnson, a hydrologist who, after a life-altering inheritance and personal disillusionment, wishes to live as a pet.
- Jeffrey transforms into a dog named Hubert, who then gains the ability to perceive and help relieve others' 'secret grief'.
- The book delves into existential questions about the pain of being alive, disillusionment, and the anguish people conceal.
- Winkler employs autofictional elements, drawing attention to the novel as an artificial construct.
- Despite its bleak and existential themes, Griefdogg is characterized by dark humor and a 'Winklerian' voice that is erudite, uncanny, and bleakly comic.
- The novel explores themes of masculinity, midlife inertia, and the natural world, aiming to explore personal and primordial depths.
- While ambitious and compelling, the novel is noted for not always making the reader *feel* deeply and for its disparate parts not always harmonizing.