On Cats Book

There exists within me, i am not ashamed to admit, a crazy cat lady who lives to talk about her cats in excessive and colorful detail, pretty much until my unsuspecting listener is fed up enough to stop me. this book is the vindication of my cat lady ways beyond any reasonable doubt.

i picked it up on a whim, in the mood for some light reading, and as we all know, nothing makes for good light reading like cute animal stories. little did i notice that this dinky little book was written by doris lessing, who is a nobel prize winner and therefore not likely to be competing with anna quindlen "good dog. stay"-style.

she uses the simplest language to describe the various personalities and shenanigans of the many cats she shared her life with: not the most intriguing premise. and yet. this has to be one of the most beautiful books i've ever read in my life. it's poignant and vivid and it wraps you up in kitty-love arms and before you know it you're tearing up and planning to take in every stray that comes your way. not everyone's a cat person, this much is true, but this little book is so much more than cats. it's the story of this remarkable woman's life told through the briefer life of her companions. it's a story about the ways we humans, who are part of nature of course but not so much involved with it anymore, commune with the wild, unknowable things of the world. and what's more wild and unknowable than a cat? for those of us fortunate enough to be cat-people, it's the squirmiest, guiltiest indulgence, because the only thing better than cuddling your own little furball or observing it at play is listening to someone else rhapsodize about the same.