The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon | Introduction & Overview

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Introduction

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is Mark Haddon's first novel written for adults, though the book does appeal to a younger audience. The story is told through the perspective of an intelligent fifteen-year-old boy with autism who includes a variety of clever visuals to enhance his narrative. But Haddon says the novel is not simply about disability: "It's about what you can do with words and what it means to communicate with someone in a book." As noted by Dave Weich of Powells.com, Haddon never actually uses the word autism in the novel.

Christopher Boone narrates this novel after finding his neighbor's black poodle, Wellington, murdered with a garden fork. The book is Christopher's account of his investigation, and as he gets closer to the truth, he begins to investigate the personal mysteries in his family and discovers that the truths his father told him...
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