Paperback book with interviews and photos of about forty-five authors, talking about their cats.

This is one of nineteen books that I am putting in the Cat BookBox before sending it on its way.

Released on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 at n/a in n/a, Nelka35's Cat BookBox Controlled Releases.

Cat (Book)Box was mailed to GoryDetails on December 17th via parcel post. (Per the postperson, cheaper than media mail in this case, but delivery time will be the same.)

I feel so sorry for the delivery-folk on bookbox days {grin}... I'm trying not to choose too many, but there's a fine assortment here, and it's tough.

Cover illustration's by Edward Gorey - and he's got a chapter in here, too. So of course I have to read this one!

This is an entertaining collection of interviews of cat-fond authors; these seem mostly to have been telephone interviews, and if you read several of them in a row the sequence of questions becomes apparent, but the variation in the responses is wide enough to keep them new. I found several authors' cats with the same names as mine, always amusing [especially for the odder names]; I also recognized many owner-training behaviors, such as Carlyon G. Hart's cat's technique: "Sophie never has to bite anymore because the minute she gets a certain look on her face, I am very quick to do whatever she wants me to. She'll come in the living room if I haven't put down food that she likes and she'll take one of her fangs and lay it on my bare ankle. That's an instructive gesture. And I move." Nancy Pickard admits "I've been known to judge people on how they get along with my animals. I think one of the reasons I married my husband is that when he first came over he went straight past me to say hello to my cat and dog. I thought, this man's all right." Susan Fromberg Schaeffer takes this a step farther: "I acquired my first cat because a friend told me that if I got one I would stop getting involved with unsuitable men. So, she gave me this wild cat that grew up in the woods of Massachusetts. He turned out to be an extremely jealous cat and attacked men who came into the house. When I met the man I finally married, the cat only took little swipes at him, so I took this to be a good sign." She also gave one of my favorite quips from the book: "This Christmas, somebody sent me a book called 'Cat Dependent No More'. I wrote back and said I would love to read it, but my cat wouldn't let me." I understand! {grin}

Some of the other authors interviewed here: Nicole Hollander; Lilian Jackson Braun; Cleveland Amory; Joyce Carol Oates; Edward Gorey (whose books I adore; he also gave great interview: see Ascending Peculiarity ); and Lloyd Alexander (his My Five Tigers is a really lovely cat-memoir). Quite the eclectic list...

Controlled release:

I'm sending this to BCer bossmare in Wyoming in a swap. Hope you enjoy it!

This was very interesting, reading about writers and their cats. Most had more than one, most had Maine coons, and most think cats are the perfect pet or companion to have around when writing. After all, they don't give you little suggestions, unless you ask for them.

Sent to trufflety in Australia. Enjoy the book!

Thanks so much! I'm really enjoying this one and was really thrilled with all the extra catty bits you attached and the funny card! :)