JH: In “Urban Archery”, our men eat Alpo. In your story “Desert Island” from Hobart, a guy eats tins of cat food on the beach. Am I sensing a fixation? What’s the appeal of pet food? Where does this come from?

CD: I think this trend of eating pet food comes from my childhood comforting technique of eating dry dog food, so when adults are in stressful situations in my stories, instead of curling up into a fetal position, apparently they are comforted by pet food.

Though I never, ever had the nerve to eat the wet.

I have been wondering lately if a person could live strictly on dog food. If he was on the lam, could he subsist on the food he found in people’s backyards. I don’t see why not.