Customer Reviews

The Cat Who Covered The World: The Adventures Of Henrietta And Her Foreign Correspondent

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I heard about this book on NPR and HAD to go right out and buy it! Its a wonderfully uplifting story for any cat-lover. I give it 5 MEOWS, m'self.

There are plenty of fine books of appreciation for a particular dog, but, given the nature of cats, there is understandably less literature in their praise. The best book I have read celebrating a particular cat is _The Cat Who Covered the World: The Adventures of Henrietta and Her Foreign Correspondent_ (Simon & Schuster) by Christopher S. Wren. Wren was a foreign correspondent for _The New York Times_, but when he wrote his first article about traveling the world with the family cat, he got more response than he did for any news articles. He acquired Henrietta as a gray ball of fluff because the person giving kittens away was giving a bottle of Scotch away with each one. Henrietta went with the Wren family to Egypt, China, Moscow, Canada, South Africa, and elsewhere. The book tells of the difficulties of finding her the right food, or kitty litter, or of getting her through customs; but it also shows how in a family which traveled everywhere together, Henrietta became a movable symbol of hearth and home.

A fine book for anyone who likes cats, _The Cat Who Covered the World_ is also a memorable portrait of a loving family in unusual environments, and of amusing and frustrating clashes of culture. Wren is a good story teller, and has a wealth of tales about his cat, whom he obviously loved, and her extraordinary life. Charming.

Since our own two cats hate even riding in a car, it was with envy and admiration that I read THE CAT WHO COVERED THE WORLD, the globetrotting adventures of Henrietta and her foreign correspondent owner.

As a writer for the New York Times, Christopher Wren and his family lived abroad in such widely separated cities as Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, Ottawa and Johannesburg. Accompanying them everywhere over her 18-year lifespan was Henrietta, the family feline, herself a native of New York City. Amazingly adaptable, Henrietta coped with airplane baggage holds, Nile River rats, Hadeda ibises, African ants, a People's Liberation Army veterinarian, and a scarcity of kitty litter. At the same time, she developed a taste for caviar, cockroaches, yellow fish, cabbage, prosciutto, sturgeon, herbal tea bags, and gongbao jiding.

Considering the timespan and distances covered, this book is relatively short at 200 pages. The devotion and affection that the Wren family has for their furry pal is striking, as when Chris drags a 26-pound sack of cat litter home to litterless Beijing from Hong Kong. Or the distress the family feels when Henrietta goes missing for several weeks in Cairo. Though sometimes Chris lapses into a newsreporter's matter-of-factual style, the humor and poignancy of life with Kitty in exotic places always shows through. For example, in bed after being assaulted by Soviet security goons, Chris writes:

"And then I felt something hop softly on the bed. I opened my eyes and saw Henrietta ... She liked to curl up with the children and (wife) Jaqueline, but had never seen fit to favor me with such a visit ... Then I heard her purr. I reached down and lightly caressed the soft fur along her neck. She snuggled in tighter until my sore mouth and gut no longer throbbed. There is something consoling about stoking a pet when you feel frightened and alone. For the first time, it was clear that Henrietta and I belonged together."

I've not been worked over by Red thugs. However, as I write this, my cat Trouble is perched on the back of my chair close to my neck ...purring. Yeah, I can relate.

Christopher Wren, a foreign correspondent with the New York Times, was no great lover of cats when he lucked into a kitten that came to him with a bottle of scotch. Henrietta made faster friends with his wife Jaquelin, daughter Celia, and son Chris, and together they insisted she travel with them to Wren's postings in Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, Ottawa, and Johannesburg.

Naturally there are wonderful adventures with Andrei Sakharov, diplomats, and other journalists, as well as near-death experiences and disappearances. Wren lightly describes the lore of cats in the various countries they visited, a touch of feline physiology and psychology when useful, and the more practical concerns of how to feed a kitty and procure her litter in faraway, isolated lands. This charming book is enhanced by a handful of ink and watercolor illustrations in a Chinese style by Meilo So, and would make a perfect gift for any cat lover.

Unfortunately, this book is yet another victim of publisher slovenliness and neglect: I found a taxi "weaving through Rome's narrow seats" (72), "an smiling vendor" (95), "other more more obscure meanings" (143), and "...we spared the cat the seventeen-hour flight back to Beijing and by leaving her with the young schoolteacher...." (150). The text also seems confused about whether Henrietta got lost in Cairo "more than a month" (86) or "nearly a month" (88). One cannot but regard this as yet another sign of contempt on the part of the publishing world for readers, books, and the poor author, but one can do nothing about it but complain.

When my local bookclub picked this book for our monthly selection, I wasn't sure what to think. I mean, how much discussion can be generated by a cat book? Thankfully I am a die-hard cat fan, so at least I'll have some funny cat stories to share.

The Cat Who Covered the World tells the true of story of New York Times Foreign Correspondent (and author), Christopher Wren, as he travels around the world with the family cat in tow. Not a born cat-lover, Chris took his time warming up to Henrietta. Eventually, however, she became an integral part of the family. And when Chris was dispatched to his first overseas assignment, Henrietta was sure to tag along. This book paints a sweet picture of a man just doing his job and the cat who made it bearable for 18 years.

As for the book itself, it's cute. The writing is for the most part simple, but I did tend to get a bit confused when the author reminisces about certain political happenings in the countries he lived in. If you're not up on your foreign history, be forewarned! However, the story as a whole is good; the cat, Henrietta, is a very endearing and sweet character, and I see much of her in my own two cats; and the different countries discussed will allow the reader to do some armchair traveling of their own. I recommend this book as a quick weekend read, but I believe it was written solely for the cat lover. All others may not find it as endearing or sweet, or may not relate to the relationship between author and family pet.

I'm sorry, but the anecdotes in this book are not nearly as interesting or amusing as the premise would suggest. The stories are generally along the lines of "my cat sat on Andropov's lap" or "my cat ate from KGB trash cans." And more of the same. Sorry, although this sounds like such an adorable book, it does not live up to expectations.

Wren's story nicely captures the hectic pace of his family's life and of the often exotic atmosphere of the far-flung places to which Wren's work as a journalist took them, along with their apparently indestructable cat Henrietta. Wren's description of the exhausting, time-consuming and frustrating paperwork that goes with the territory of traveling around the world with a cat is mind-boggling. Because the family willingly took on this added burden in order to keep Henrietta with them, it's clear that they loved her dearly and that she was without doubt an important member of the family. I cheered their efforts on her behalf (even though I look askance at allowing a cat to roam busy city streets or tropical landscapes where predators may lurk), but I would have liked to have read more about personal interaction between Henrietta and the family. We're told she curls up on the daughter's bed at night. But we don't hear her purr, we don't see her lick the girl's cheek or nuzzle her neck. Henrietta certainly comes off as independent, resourceful and resilient and I got a kick out of her, but with a little more detailed description of her interaction with the family, she would have seemed like a more loveable and huggable cat.

I can say many things about Henriettetas crazy adventures, but let me start out by telling you a little about the book The Cat That Covered The World By Christopher Wren. In this book it fallows Christopher Wren, his wife, two children, and there New York City cat Henrietteta on an adventure covering world events in Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, Ottawa, and Johannesburg. While the family tries to cope with the change in cultures and atmosphere Henrietteta tries to cope also. In Beijing Henrietteta tries to deal with her terrible first visit to the Veterinarian. In Cairo she was living like Cleopatra down by the Nile with all those rats, but in Alaska she has to fight her way through the snow like a sled dog. I thought this book was very enjoyable and Christopher Wren made all of Henriettas antics very funny. Wren also gave very descriptive accounts of the cities in which the stories take place. There were also a few things I did not like about this book. The author used very mature words, and I constantly found myself looking in the dictionary for definitions. Some paragraphs in the book were confusing and I would strongly recommend this reading to older teenagers to adults. I wish the author would have extended the adventures because they were very entertaining.

An absolutely delightful book. I enjoyed it so much, I passed it on to cat lover friends and have just received an e-mail telling me how much they enjoyed it.

Being a cat lover, I've read a few books about the mischievous trouble making creatures. My personal favorite is The Cat Who Covered the World by Christopher S. Wren. Wren, being a writer for the New York Times, travels the world with his family, including the cat.
From Cairo, to Paris, to Beijing, there's not a place Henrietta, the cat, hasn't been. Henrietta is the most amazing cat I've ever heard of. She has very prototype catlike qualities, intelligent, resourceful, cunning, just to name a few. She's like super cat. Her qualities as I've just listed, are doubled compared to any normal cat. She even has a refined taste; she'll only eat certain kinds of fish and other meats, not like other cats that just eat whatever is in front of them.
Wren's style of writing is very interesting. He's very descriptive, and seems to know exactly what word would fit where. It seems like he's memorized the dictionary. He uses a lot of bigger words that I couldn't even figure out from context, for example the word "eschatological", which has some thing to do with death and what happens after. I've never heard of that word in my life. You definitely need to be an experienced reader to read this. I love how he describes the actions of the cat, and the cat herself. Everything he says about her is catlike and very descriptive, giving people a clear picture in their minds.
People can learn things from this book. Like how people in different countries treat cats, and their opinions and superstitions about them. One example of superstitions would be that I learned that some people in China think cat's eyes have magical features. I now know more about customs of people in different countries and their views on Americans and reporters.
One thing the Wren's had to consistently go through were baggage checks and customs every time they entered a new country. This seemed to be a problem for Henrietta. In some countries they made her visit a vet and were very suspicious about her having foreign diseases. The veterinarians at these places would poke and prod at her as if she was a stuffed animal. In other places they would love her to death and let her go through without a problem.
Wren adds a sense of humor to his book as well. I think that's one thing that made it so captivating. Knowing the behavior of cats is an important thing to have stored in the brain to understand some of the humor. If people have never owned a cat they may not understand why something would be funny. Such as in one part of the book he has the schedule of Henrietta in the morning. It talks about what a cat does in everyday life. People can't possibly understand the humor of the cat's schedule unless they've lived with a cat or an animal with the same kind of behavior.
Overall Wren did a great job on this book. I would recommend The Cat Who Covered the World to any cat lover or cat owner. I only wish more people would write books like this about their cats.