Cats Will Be Cats


Book Description

"The mathematical probability of a common cat doing exactly as it pleases is the one scientific absolute in the world." --Lynn M. Osband Cats--either you love 'em or you love to hate 'em, but no one can deny that these little felines are fascinating creatures. Cats are known (and loved) for their peculiarities, from the predictable to the utterly perplexing. The world's greatest minds pay tribute to the world's most peculiar pets. With quotes from cat-lovers and cat-toleraters alike, Cats Will Be Cats is a new kind of quote book about what these feline friends and fiends bring to our lives.




On Cats


Book Description

For centuries, cats have been worshipped, adored and mistrusted in equal measure. This beautiful gift book contains a selection of essays, stories, and poems on cats by writers from across the ages. In these pages, writers reflect on the curious feline qualities that inspire such devotion in their owners, even when it seems one-sided. Cats’ affections are hard-won and often fickle. Freud considered his cat an embodiment of true egoism; Hilaire Belloc found peace in his feline companion’s complacency; and Hemingway—a famous cat-lover—wrote of drinking with his eleven cats and the pleasant distraction they gave him. Edward Gorey can’t turn down a stray despite the trouble they cause him, and admits he has no idea what they’re thinking about; Muriel Spark gives practical advice on how to teach a cat to play ping-pong; Nikola Tesla, who helped design the modern electricity supply system, describes a seminal experience with a cat that first sparked his fascination with electricity; and Caitlin Moran considers the unexpected feelings of loss after the death of her family cat. These writers, and many others (including Mary Gaitskill, Alice Walker, Ursula K. Le Guin, John Keats, James Bowen, Lynne Truss, and more), paint a joyful portrait of cats and their mysterious and loveable ways. As Hemingway wrote, “one cat leads to another.” The book features six black-and-white cat portraits by photographer Elliot Ross.




Cats! Cats!


Book Description




The Big New Yorker Book of Cats


Book Description

Look what The New Yorker dragged in! It’s the purr-fect gathering of talent celebrating our feline companions. This bountiful collection, beautifully illustrated in full color, features articles, fiction, humor, poems, cartoons, cover art, drafts, and drawings from the magazine’s archives. Among the contributors are Margaret Atwood, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Roald Dahl, Wolcott Gibbs, Robert Graves, Emily Hahn, Ted Hughes, Jamaica Kincaid, Steven Millhauser, Haruki Murakami, Amy Ozols, Robert Pinsky, Jean Rhys, James Thurber, John Updike, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and E. B. White. Including a Foreword by Anthony Lane, this gorgeous keepsake will be a treasured gift for all cat lovers. Praise for The Big New Yorker Book of Cats “The Book of Cats comes a year after The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs—a publishing slight that, though it stings, I’ll forgive, as the latest anthology was worth the wait. . . . Two standout articles feature real-life obsessives of ages past who reveal today’s Caturnet devotees—with their GIFs and Tumblrs and hastily aggregated listicles—for what they truly are: amateurs. . . . Eat your heart out, Cute Overload.”—The New York Times Book Review “A beautiful hardcover.”—Jenny McCarthy, People “This irresistible anthology of articles, poems, essays, fiction, cartoons, and covers pulled from the New Yorker is a veritable treasure trove for cat lovers. Just dive right in; with stories from the likes of John Updike, Maeve Brennan, Roald Dalhl, and Haruki Murakami interwoven with hilariously wry cartoons, one can’t help but be enthralled. A must-have.”—Modern Cat “A shiny, well-fed tome . . . The anthology embodies the cat’s defining characteristic: its cluster of opposites, rolled together into a giant hairball of cultural attitudes—something, perhaps, at once uncomfortably and assuringly reflective of our own chronically conflicted selves.”—Brain Pickings “This gorgeous book has earned a permanent spot on my coffee table. It is an absolute joy to read and browse through, and I know it will bring me hours and hours of pleasure for years to come. And it makes a purr-fect gift for the special cat lovers in your life.”—The Conscious Cat “[A] sumptuous volume.”—The Dallas Morning News




There are Cats in this Book


Book Description

When did you last play with cats ... inside a BOOK?! The cats in this book want to have fun, and by turning the pages and flipping the flaps YOU can play their favourite games with them! Tiny, Moonpie and Andre love wool to tangle with, cardboard boxes to hide in, pillow fights ... and fish! But where there are fish, there is also water -lots of it. So who's going to rescue the cats from the giant f1oodwave? You are, of course!




All My Cats


Book Description

A literary master’s story about the aggravations and great joys of cats, from “a most sophisticated novelist, with a gusting humor and a hushed tenderness of detail” (Julian Barnes) In the autumn of 1965, flush with the unexpected success of his first published books, the Czech author Bohumil Hrabal bought a cottage in Kersko. From then until his death in 1997, he divided his time between Prague and his country retreat, where he wrote and tended to a community of feral cats. Over the years, his relationship to cats grew deeper and more complex, becoming a measure of the pressures, both private and public, that impinged on his life as a writer. All My Cats, written in 1983 after a serious car accident, is a confessional memoir, the chronicle of an author who becomes overwhelmed. As he is driven to the brink of madness by the dilemmas created by his indulgent love for the animals, there are episodes of intense brutality as he controls the feline population. Yet in the end, All My Cats is a book about Hrabal’s relationship to nature, about the unlikely sources of redemption that come to him unbidden, like a gift from the cosmos—and about love.




The Everything Book of Cats and Kittens


Book Description

Everything a child wants to know about cats and kittens, from breeds, features, pet care, and grooming, to discovering how their cats communicate with us and one another. This book is for anyone who loves cats and kittens, whether they're cat owners or want-to-be owners. Learn what cats are showing by their body language, know where they wander off to outside, and what they are trying to say to you. Discover the secrets of the playful and curious characters of these amazing pets in this fun, lively book. Packed with wonderful pictures and adorable cat facts, Cats and Kittens takes you into their fascinating world. Find out about the individual features of different breeds and how to take the best care of them, and be amazed by their intelligence and agile antics.




How Many Cats?


Book Description

What’s a cat to do when left all alone at home? Why, invite the neighborhood cats over, of course! A quiet afternoon for one quickly becomes a party for twenty. Lauren Thompson’s clever verse will guide young listeners to count from one to twenty and back again, introducing them to early math skills along the way. Kids will have a blast following their favorite felines as they rush and roam through Robin Eley’s vivid and playful illustrations.




The Secret Language of Cats


Book Description

Have you ever wondered what your cat is saying? Cats do not meow randomly, nor do they growl or hiss because they have nothing better to do. Cat sounds have a purpose, and they can carry important messages, whether for us or other cats. Susanne Schötz is hard at work on breaking the cat code. She is a professor at Lund University in Sweden, where a long-standing research program is proving that cats do actually use vocal communication—with each other and with their human caretakers. Understanding the vocal strategies used in human-cat communication will have profound implications for how we communicate with our pets, and has the potential to improve the relationship between animals and humans within several fields, including animal therapy, veterinary medicine and animal sheltering. In The Secret Language of Cats, Schötz offers a crash course in the phonetic study of cat sounds. She introduces us to the full range of feline vocalizations and explains what they can mean in different situations, and she gives practical tips to help us understand our cats better.




Cats in Spring Rain


Book Description

This delightful little book pays homage to the cat through artfully curated Japanese poetry and prints. No one captures the graces and idiosyncrasies of cats quite like the painters, printmakers, and haiku masters of Japan. From the Edo to the Showa period, many artists turned their gaze toward an unlikely subject: their small feline companions. Closely observed portraits in words ad ink elevate the everyday adventures of cats: taking a nap on a Buddha statue's lap, daintily eating a rice ball, courting the neighbor's cat. This curated collection of poems, prints, and paintings will leave you inspired to cultivate the serenity and wonder embodied by these creators—and by the cats themselves. Presented as a sweet, jacketed paperback with thoughtful design touches, this volume includes each poem in both English and Japanese. THE ORIGINAL CAT LOVERS: Centuries before the emergence of cat memes and cat cafes, Japanese artists and writers perfected the practice of feline reverence. Cats played pivotal roles in folklore; they were the protectors of scriptures and symbols of good luck and wealth. They also proved to be a wonderful source of creative inspiration. This little compendium showcases Japan's rich cultural heritage. UNIQUE GIFT: Surprise your cat-loving friends and family with this unusual twist on the cat-themed gift. PERFECT FOR POETRY LOVERS: Whether they came to poetry through the works of Instagram poets, or have been reading the classics for decades, any lover of verse will enjoy this thoughtfully curated collection. The writers featured include Bashō, Chiyo-ni, Issa, Shiki, and more—all icons of the haiku form. ENCHANTING ART: Hokusai, Hiroshige, Yoshitoshi, and more: These artists masterfully captured the personalities of cats and their humans. These images, with their delicate lines and soothing colors, have endured through time to bring us quiet joy. Perfect for: • Cat lovers • Poets and poetry readers • Artists and art lovers • Anyone who appreciates Japan's arts and culture