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5 comments about A Cat.

1. This was a precious book that I bought to go with our small What Dogs Do coffee table book. I decided to read it because it was so short and I wound up really enjoying it and even reading one of the observations out loud to my husband because it reminded me so much of our cat! This is not a novel or a wonderful work of literature, but the thoughts and observations about all things feline are wonderfully on the mark! Anyone who shares life with a cat will be sure to appreciate this cute little book.



2. Not just another cat book, this one. This book just purrs with elegance and wit. By far the most intelligent cat book in print.



3. The collaboration between text and illustration make this delightful book an extraordianry success on many levels. It is both humorous and thought-provoking, ironic and poetic, wry and sublime. Lerner's spare, minimal drawings are as eloquent as Michael's words. I would like to buy a dozen to give as gifts if only it weren't so difficult to find!




4. Leonard Michael's book about cats is a perceptive insight look into the nature of cats. He sees cats in a fanciful way, relying more on his imagination then the concrete facts of feline life. Cats are examined more like a dream than a reality. Being a cat lover, I can understand his feelings. When you're with your cat, it's time to be yourself, be in your own world without the clamor of responsibilities and the constant interruption of your peace and quiet. It is very much like being in a space where you see like a child or understand things emotionally like in a dream. Michaels captures this feeling from your cat's perspective. "When a cat shuts its eyes, you disappear."

   The sparseness and concise observation of "A Cat" is reminiscent of the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tsu. I do find that cats are like sages, sitting in meditation on life, able to put life in perspective better than humans are. We are inferiors in our efforts to sort out the essentials despite our supposedly superior intelligence. "To be as quick as a cat you must not think."

   Michaels investigates the irony of a cat's love of privacy while it seems so receptive to affection at the same time. I think he's given me personal insight into why I love cats. I like their ability to be close but it's such a personal closeness that it has more a sense of aloneness than loneliness.

   I feel comfortable with this book like I do with a cat, although perhaps a little cumbersome in comparison. Michaels says it best, "Compared to a cat, we're big, slow, blundering figures. When we lie down, our gross earthen nature must make us appear something like rocks and trees to a cat. Therefore, it feels free to walk on us."

   An extra added treat are the wonderful line and brush drawings.

   > River




5. A wonderful collection of thoughts and meditatations on the mystery of being as incarnated by the cat. Michaels' words take you from the simple pleasure of holding a cat to quotes from Chekov. Lerner's outline gesture drawings suggest the inner mystery of the cat.

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