Boomerang by Stefano Benni Translated by Claire Taylor Suddenly, one day, Mr Remo began to hate his dog. He wasn't a bad man. But something inside him had broken when he'd become a widower. He'd lost his wife and he was left with the dog, a roly-poly sausage-shaped mongrel, fat and sort of black, with big bat ears. His name was Boom, or actually Boomerang, because whatever you threw for him he would bring it back, with great speed and tenacity. At one time Mr Remo and Boom had taken long walks together and talked about the world, human and canine, about Descartes and Rin Tin Tin. They'd had a very special relationship. But now they never talked. The man would sit in an armchair staring into space and Boom would curl up at his feet, gazing at him with boundless affection. It was this gaze of absolute devotion and total loyalty that Mr Remo detested most of all. The world was nothing but loss, loneliness and pain. What was the point of such an incongru...