Heart of a Dog Summary
Mikhail Bulgakov

Heart of a Dog Overview

Heart of a Dog—sometimes translated as A Dog’s Heart—is a novel by Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov. Heart of a Dog was originally written in 1925 but was suppressed by the Soviet government. The novel follows a physician named Philip Philippovich Preobrazhensky who performs a medical experiment on a stray dog. The experiment fully anthropomorphizes the dog and gives it the ability to speak. However, the anthropomorphized dog causes great disruptions in Philip’s life. The novel is generally interpreted as a satire of the Soviet Union. The novel explores themes of transformation, politics, power, class, and loyalty.