I was contacted a while ago regarding Tom Cox's new book "The Good, the Bad, and the Furry" (set to be released today). Having read one of his previous books and recently becoming a fan of My Sad Cat on twitter, I said yes.
And then kittens happened.
But now that the kittens have settled down and are doing well I sat down to give this book a good read - well that was after I wrestled it away from Eli.
Tom Cox has written three books now; he has a very conversational manner, taking you through his life and the intricacies of owning multiple cats. This one was no different, and was a nice journey with him and The Bear, Ralph, Shipley and the addition of Rosco.
I did have some issues with this book. One is that the tag line is "Life with the world's most melancholy cat" so I kept waiting for the book to start to focus on The Bear, which it never did which to me was very distracting. The Bear does shows up very regularly in the book and often sits on the outskirts of the story, much like you would expect a cat to in a book not focused on cats. I just kept waiting for the focus to shift to The Bear, which was... distracting. My second 'issue' is that there is a pretty heartbreaking death of a kitty on page 27. Page 27! I was sitting in my living room just starting this book and had tears running down my cheeks. It took me a few days to gather up the courage to continue on after that (the rest of the book is pretty safe from tears). Lastly, despite the cover, this is a book about Tom and his life. His cats are a part of that life and he quite often talks about his cats but he also talks about his house, his garden, his thinking about adopting an alpaca, his parents, his girl friend, a frog in a shoe, a guy who stops by to visit and talk about gardening, a stray cat that comes into his home and every other page or so a short story about one of the cats.
I'm also not a fan of his anthropomorphising how much his male cats cared about losing their testicles. As an advocate for the homeless cats, and running across this attitude as reasons why people don't neuter, I just wanted to grab Tom and shake him and tell him that cats are not like humans and are actually happier without them.
But, that being said, please don't let this deter you from reading this book. It was very lovely journey through a period of Tom's life. His relationship with his cats and his parents is so sweet and it is so nice to see a man who appreciates cats and enjoys their company, to the point of writing a book about it.
My favorite part of the book starts on my page 209 in the chapter "It's Ralph's World - The Rest of Us Just Live in It":
Nowadays, though, Crazy Cat Lady is entrenched in our psyche. Like all stereotypes, there's a grain of truth to her, but she's a million times more present in that flippant but damaging thing 'Internet banter' than she ever could be in real life. Jokes about Crazy Cat Ladies seem harmless enough, but at their core is a disturbing echo of the hysterical witch superstitions of the late Middle Ages. I've known several women who have wanted to get a cat, or an additional cat, but have hesitated or decided not to, because of 'what it might say about them'.
Personally, I'd like to see the Crazy Cat Lady's name never mentioned again: for the good of the male-female relations, for the good of feminism, for the good of the human self-esteem, for the good of cats - particularly rescue cats.Yes yes yes and yes.. thank you for saying it.
I was offered five copies of the book to give away to readers in the USA and Canada. I thought I would do a comment giveaway instead of running another rafflecopter. If you can not or choose not to comment publicly on this post, feel free to email me.
If you don't want to wait, you can buy your own copy on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or iTunes and most likely at your favorite bookseller.
You can also check out Tom's facebook page or on Google+
Comments open for the contest from 4/14/15 to 4/21/15
Sounds like a wonderful book...I would love to win a copy :) Melissa0908@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to enter me because I too am reviewing it - but I want to say, that quote about the negativity of the term "crazy cat lady" alone makes this book worthwhile!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds intriguing and I too love the quote from it that you highlighted- adding it to my cat book library would be nice.
ReplyDeleteWe agree with Summer. The more people who are willing to speak out against the "crazy cat lady" stereotype, the sooner we can put it to rest once and for all.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I can read the book knowing what happens on page 27. Despite that, though, it sounds a great book :-)
ReplyDeleteit is not a violent death.. but a death from illness...
Deleteand it is part of something we all need to face when we choose to share our lives with cats.
I am always looking to add books to my cat collection, so please enter me!
ReplyDeleteA truthful book review! Cool! Hmm...guess I'd read it but since it's not so much about cats but about a guy WITH cats...I'll put it on my list to read after it shows up at the local library.
ReplyDeleteI love that you gave such an honest review! As a cat owner and kitty foster mama, I would love to read a copy!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really good book. We'd like to win a copy for the mom.
ReplyDeleteDamn I don't live in either country, so my loss
ReplyDeleteThe Little Lion says he'd like to read this book because Eli recommended it. But if he wins, PLEASE tear out page 27 before sending. Thank you, he says.
ReplyDeleteGood review! We like hearing how you felt reading "The Good, The Bad' and The Furry." Some might gloss over the sad bits and we're glad you didn't. We'd love to add this book to our collection, the one our mom reads to us under the bed when we're hiding from loud storms.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book! I understand what you are saying about the neutering. It is a macho human male thing to think that you're value is based on your testicles. It doesn't seem like it is that big of a deal to anyone else. Cinco still thinks he is a pretty manly cat even though he has been neutered. At least this author actually did neuter his cats.
ReplyDelete-Purrs from your friends at www.PlayfulKitty.net
I would love to read this. I have 5 cats myself and I think this would be a great read.
ReplyDeleteCommenting! (uh, HOW many comments can we enter? MOL!)
ReplyDeleteWe especially thought his words you quoted were itneresting: "...a disturbing echo of the hysterical witch superstitions of the late Middle Ages."
How insightful. And has a real ring of truth there, too.
We NEED to dispel the Crazy Cat Lady thing, like YESTERDAY.