I’m irresistible, it shouted at us. Take me home.

Ready to be charmed, we complied. Not that it needed to beg. What a beauty.

No, not a new cinched bag. Not a Givenchy lipstick. The object of our affection was Arthur Bradford’s dog, whose sweet mug graces the cover of Dogwalker, Bradford’s highly anticipated collection of short stories, which has just hit stores.

But. Oh. My. We didn’t expect the characters we’d find inside. Catface is the son of carnival owners. He has, well, a cat’s face. Not a pretty one. Betsy Smith lets a man carve her initials into an apple with a chainsaw—while she holds the apple in her mouth. But the real charmers are the dogs. Some have three legs. One looker, Ellouise, seduces her owner’s boyfriend, who eventually ends up raising…oh, we don’t want to spoil it.

Bradford is the hot young writer who all the hot young writers (Zadie Smith, Matt Klam, Dave Eggers) are reading. For good reason. Despite the surreal situations and the lunatic premises, Bradford draws such direct, accepting portraits that you almost forget there’s something odd about men who kiss dogs.

And those cute cartoons? His mom drew them. Really, if mom approves, who are we to disagree?