I enjoyed how the story was written, and I couldn’t predict where the plot was taking me, which felt good. But, overall, that story still felt uneven to me.

This is a story that is pared down to the most essential details, and it didn’t feel that a single word or sentence is wasted. It has a very easy flow to it, and the spartan use of details is actually pretty impressive. There is a lot going on here, which is not a problem, but I feel I’m giving the impression that this is a complicated story. Then Robert gets an extra credit assignment to come up with a mystery, and Betty tells Robert a secret about their family, and I’ll leave it at that no spoilers. The story takes a turn where Theo wins a large amount of money gambling online, buys a car, and then leaves, not informing his family where he is going. Then we learn that Betty’s uncle is asked by Betty’s sister, Bobby, to smuggle out a letter to Betty, but the uncle destroys the letter, fearing the Communists will discover the letter and jail him. Theo keeps talking about the Hong Kong protests against the Chinese Communist government, and wishes he were there, taking part in the demonstrations. This family left Vancouver due to racism there, and settle in New York as the pandemic starts. Betty is married to Quinten, and they have a seventeen-year-old son Theo, and a nine-year-old adopted son Robert.

The story is about a Chinese family from Hong Kong, that was living in Vancouver, then moves to New York, and proceeds to buy two more apartments in the building their living in to have more room. So, when “Detective Dog,” by Gish Jen opens with the line, “No politics, just make money,” and then we find out that Betty, our protagonist, did just that, and made lots of money, my defenses went up. Fewer complications means less conflict, and stories need conflict. A wealthy character can travel anywhere, do anything, and can be carefree and selfish. Not that I have anything against a real person being rich, but in fiction, I think it’s a cop-out when an author makes a protagonist’s wealthy. I don’t like characters in a story who are wealthy. (The short story “Detective Dog” by Gish Jen was featured in the November 22 nd, 2021 issue of The New Yorker.)

The detective dog