Portrait of the artist as a young dog portrait of the artist as a young dog is a collection of short prose stories written by welsh poet dylan thomas first published by dent on 4 april 1940 the first paperback copy appeared in 1948 published by the british publishers guild. Just as adrian mole defined me aged 13 3 4 dylan thomas portrait of the artist as a young dog did so at 18 after receiving this as a gift from my parents at age 13 im glad i waited to read this when i was a little older in 10 short stories thomas takes you through his childhood starting as a youngster and finishing as a young man. Portrait of the artist as a young dog the young dog of the title is of course thomas himself and this volume of autobiographical stories by the great modern poet who died at 39 while on his. The young dog of the title is of course thomas himself and this volume of autobiographical stories by the great modern poet who died at 39 while on his third lecture tour in the united states shows his waggish humor at its best his exuberance and verbal magic in spectacular display. The young dog of the title is of course thomas himself and this volume of autobiographical stories by the great modern poet who died at 39 while on his third lecture tour in the united states shows his waggish humor at its best his exuberance and verbal magic in spectacular display it also shows him a spinner of tales and a creator of memorable characters