Edward Dacres is an unforgettable anti-hero, a dissolute abstract painter whose fortunes in London have dwindled to nothing.When a misdirected letter invites him to take part in a delegation to bring art to the "Colonies," Dacres seizes the opportunity. Once in North America, however, a series of mishaps forces Dacres to abandon the troupe and try his luck in the puritan climate of 1939 Toronto, most of whose citizens have their thoughts on the war and don't care a whit for his painted triangles. Most, that is, with the notable exception of a beautiful heiress with an eye for art and a wilful determination to save Dacres from himself.

Goya's Dog is a love story laced with satire and a historical novel bearing on contemporary truths. A picaresque tale of gin, cowardice, and artistic paralysis, it toys with our notions of the artist's role in times of war and considers the selfishness inherent in our passions—and the self-sacrifice fundamental to love.

“Sarcastic, self-destructive, yet strangely endearing, Edward Dacres is the best kind of anti-hero—the kind you can't forget. Who'd have thought a book about art and Toronto would be a page-turner? And yet it is, as we watch, riveted, to see if Dacres is going to fail or succeed. In crystaline prose, and with affectionate satire, Tarnopolsky deftly leads the reader forward, and twists this tale of a down-and-out British painter into a glorious celebration of life's simpler beauties.”
—Miguel Syjuco, Author of Ilustrado

Damian Tarnopolsky's style is essentially witty: it combines observation and action in a way that is so elegant, so articulate and yet light of touch that one is hardly aware of its complexity. And he has made a book about a troubled person and a particularly turbulent place in history, a book about Canada as seen by an Englishman, a book about art and war and desire, that is both funny and sad.
—Russell Smith