I Dog

Randal Peyton Purcell can''t guess what''s coming when his doorbell rings one quiet Sunday in New York.

The ringing interrupts his life of arrogant, self-satisfaction, of what he sees as his effortless superiority. His is an indifference to the weak and downtrodden.

What he lets in at the doorbell is a spirit that becomes a stray dog of mythical wickedness.

This is I DOG or ''Johann Sebastian Bark,'' as Randy''s German landlord and landlady name him.

Johann is not only beyond description, his incessant barking destroys the peace and harmony of Randy''s home. From there on, he stumbles through the wreckage into the secrets of elderly Nazis and to murder most foul.

In this satiric novel, Randy''s descent through the rings of hell brings him into the clutches of a nymphomaniac Korean Princess, to being kidnapped by a psychopathic teenage robber who endlessly haunts the Interstate but cannot drive.

Finally, a Jew from Brooklyn who is convinced he''s black, catches him up.

Randy must survive a nightmarish theme park, a cataclysmic gun battle and an apocalyptic inferno before he can make a frantic dash to freedom through the Okefeenokee swamp.

Irreverent, humorous and sarcastic, I Dog forces Randy to change his inner vision.

He must shed his snakeskin of privilege and haughtiness before he can find a humble salvation.

I DOG is comic on virtually everything. While It may offend, it is with good humor. On its serious side, I DOG gives numerous considerations on our communal ''how'' and ''why'' - and particularly mocks our belief that we are good enough to be made in God''s likeness. I DOG says not so, but rather that we come in the image of our canine brethren.

We jump through hoops and wear circus ruffs. One way or another all of us are dogs. I DOG.