In the picturesque lanes of Toulouse, Paul, an adolescent gone astray, abandons everything to become his dog’s disciple: they live like vagabonds under a stairwell, where the boy receives lessons in wisdom from the dog. Until the fateful day when Knult, the dog-philosopher, dies in mysterious circumstances.
While the neighborhood’s peaceful existence is troubled by rumors of pet-nappings, a droll and unauthorized investigation, in which humans’ and animals’ fates will be inextricably entangled, begins.
'Metaphysical Dog' is structured like a neighborhood chronicle from sunny Toulouse, where truculent Southwestern French slang is still spoken.
A multitude of colorful characters come and go, criss-crossing paths, as though connected by an invisible thread: Inspector Moskato, a depressed police officer who can’t get over the disappearance of his pet poodle; Ange Fraboli, small-time cat and dog-napper; Mme Estrouffigue, tyrannical landlady and Knult’s benefactress; Vero, the pretty veterinarian who is in love with Paul and who has a terrible time hiding her distaste for dogs…
As for Paul, our tormented and intransigent hero, he sticks to his quest, and doesn’t really become who he was meant to be until he has passed each and every stage of a long initiation: Where will Knult’s trail lead him? Is the point to thwart a plot or to find life’s hidden meaning?