The Dog Stars

In the days before leaving the canyon, Hig takes his time, enjoying nature and fishing. The majority of this opening chapter focuses on Hig and Cima, who further discuss their histories. Halfway through, Cima reveals her naked body to Hig when Hig is swimming, which days later evolves into a sexual relationship. Heller pays much attention to describing Cima’s body while not leveling the same detail on Hig. As a whole, the chapter captures back-to-nature beauty while contrasting that against Cima’s longing for simple joys from her metropolitan days. The two speak of their histories while gardening. Cima shares her story of how she attended Dartmouth, earning a full ride by writing an essay about how her high school counselor, Mr. Sucks, told Cima to write about her life on a ranch and how her brother Bo’s motorcycle death impacted her. “We didn’t want any sympathy” Cima says, “I was so angry. Never been so mad I don’t think” (237). Cima shares her dreams, pregnant with the guilt of betrayal for not being with her husband during his death.

“I swung in the hammock,” Hig says of these days before leaving, “I recited every poem I had ever half remembered.