Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon

Bronwen Dickey spent seven years researching with dog experts.[3][4][5] For Dickey's efforts she received death threats at book signings.[6][7]

The book covers the history of the Pitbull, in the United States. It covers how the dog went from beloved family pet owned by likes of Teddy Roosevelt to demonized dog fighting animal owned by the likes of Ed Faron and -Michael Vick.

The book received a mostly positive reception from critics.[8][9][10]

This is a very good book... Ms. Dickey has earned her reputation as a first-rate reporter.” —The Wall Street Journal.[11]

"Terrific... [Dickey] does more than simply dispel the many myths around pit bulls; she strives to explore what those myths can tell us about ourselves. This beautifully written, heartbreaking book is not just for dog lovers — it's for anyone interested in race, class, history and the complexity of media narratives." —NPR[12]

Ms. Dickey not only writes about the ebb and flow of public fear and loathing, she takes the reader on a thoroughly comprehensible tour of genetics and behavioral science to explain why breeding never guarantees an individual dog's personality, and shouldn't be used to condemn it.... Picking out one breed to blame is neither warranted nor effective, and a reader of her book will be hard put to disagree." —The New York Times[13]

“Brilliant… A powerful and disturbing book that shows how the rise of the killer-pit bull narrative reflects many broader American anxieties and pathologies surrounding race, class, and poverty… A remarkable study of our capacities for cruelty and compassion toward dogs and other humans, and an eloquent argument for abandoning the fears and prejudices that have made pit bulls in particular the victims of mistreatment.” —Christian Science Monitor[14]

Anti pit bull advocates accused Bronwen Dickey of downplaying the potential danger of pit bull dogs.[15][16][17]