Amory, Cleveland. The Cat Who Came for Christmas. Little, Brown and Company, 1987.
Reason read: December is the month for Christmas
Every December I look for a few books that are lighthearted and funny. The Cat Who Came for Christmas fit the bill for the most part, being both a memoir about a specific stray cat coming into Cleveland’s life and a didactic nonfiction containing interesting facts about cats. Here are a few examples: Cleveland delves into the theory of a cat having nine lives; he provides names of politicians and rulers who either loved or detested cats; he shares the dirty secrets of animals shelters, testing on animals (ouch), and price gouging of veterinarians. He shares stories of his work with animals rights organizations. It is not just a warm and fuzzy story about a cat named Polar Bear. But let’s be fair. Polar Bear is the star of the show. The full blown, complete sentence dialogues Cleveland would have with his cat are hysterical.
Cleveland is in good company of famous people who enjoyed cats: Mark Twain, Colette, Walter Cronkite, and Robert De Niro to name a few.
Quote to quote, “You do not, after all, have to walk a wife (p 6).
Author fact: Cleveland likes to drop names. He was good friends with Cary Grant and George C. Scott.
Book trivia: the advance praise for The Cat Who Came for Christmas is star-studded. Bea Arthur, Walter Cronkite, Norman Cousins, and even Doris Day all give a glowing review. See what I mean about the name dropping?
Nancy said: Pearl said many people enjoyed The Cat Who Came for Christmas.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Cat Crazy” (p 51).
~*LunaSea*~ 