Ernest Hebert's "The Dogs of March"

In the fifth installment in our Granite State Stories series we look at the conflict of outsiders vs. insiders, flatlanders vs. natives through the pages of Ernest Hebert's The Dogs of March. On the surface, it's the story of Howard Elman, a native Granite Stater and his struggles with his new neighbor, Zoe Cutter. Elman is a longtime mill worker, poor and somewhat eccentric. Cutter is upper class, high society and fresh into town. Beyond illustrating a clash of personalities, Hebert's book gets at something larger...the conflict between change and the status quo, rich and poor, salt of the earth versus socialite. At the same time, the book paints a vivid picture of small town New England life and its people in the fictional New Hampshire town of Darby. Elman has junk cars in his yard and soil under his fingers. He doesn't like change and he especially doesn't like people like Zoe Cutter coming into his town, with their big cars, big bank accounts and fancy college degrees. We'll examine The Dogs of March, it's portrayal of the classic insider/outsider struggle and see if this clash continues today as New Hampshire adapts to changing times. Laura's guest is Ernest Hebert, who teaches writing courses at Dartmouth College and is the author of several books, including the Darby Series, of which "The Dogs of March" is the first installment.