A Matter of (Good) Breeding

Clicking around the interwebs (did I mention that there's now a Facebook and Twitter account associated with this blog?), I came across a link to a book scheduled to come out next year. From Amazon.com:

So-called “purebreds” are the mainstay of the dog industry, and social critic Michael Brandow argues that these aren’t markers of time-honored traditions but rather commercial inventions of the nineteenth century that were marketed as status symbols to a growing middle class. Combining social history and consumer studies with sharp commentary, this book reveals the sordid history of the dog industry and shows how our brand-name pets pay the price with devastatingly poor health.

Ordered!