The beast that shouted love at the heart of the world Book

"On the mauve level, crouched down in deeper magenta washings that concealed his arched form, the maniac waited. He was a dragon, squat and round in the torso, tapered ropy tail tucked under his body; the small, thick osseous shields rising perpendicularly from the arched back, running down to the end of the tail, tips pointing upwards; his taloned shorter arms folded across his massive chest. He had the seven-headed dog faces of an ancient Cerberus. Each head watched, waiting, hungry, insane."
Who is The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World?
He is the omniscient and omnipresent mad demiurge who sees everything and understands nothing - senile and demented creator of universe.
The anthology is shattering but A Boy and His Dog is the biggest diamond in this royal crown of stories. It is the bleakest post-apocalyptic tale I ever read.
"I was out with Blood, my dog. It was his week for annoying me; he kept calling me Albert. He thought that was pretty damned funny. Payson Terhune: ha ha.
I'd caught a couple of water rats for him, the big green and ocher ones, and someone's manicured poodle, lost off a leash in one of the downunders.
He'd eaten pretty good, but he was cranky. 'Come on, son of a bitch,' I demanded, 'find me a piece of ass.'
Blood just chuckled, deep in his dog-throat. 'You're funny when you get horny,' he said."
A boy and his dog constitute a symbiotic tandem - they can't manage without each other.
"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour." Ecclesiastes 4:9