Cats with Attitude [Hardcover]

Nicole Hollander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 2002

The creator of the popular syndicated cartoon strip "Sylvia" explores her character's views on the devilishly quirky personality traits of pet cats in this hilarious collection of two bestselling books: Everything Here is Mine, and My Cat's Not Fat, He's Just Big-Boned. Cats who think too much, cats who hypnotize their owners, cats who plot dastardly deeds but get distracted (usually by food,) cats who think they're kids, cats who get even, cats who dress up, cats who educate themselves--they are all here to prove their superior intellect, and their inclination to obey no one but themselves.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The creator of the popular syndicated cartoon strip "Sylvia" explores her character's views on the devilishly quirky personality traits of pet cats in this hilarious collection of two bestselling books: Everything Here is Mine, and My Cat's Not Fat, He's Just Big-Boned. Cats who think too much, cats who hypnotize their owners, cats who plot dastardly deeds but get distracted (usually by food,) cats who think they're kids, cats who get even, cats who dress up, cats who educate themselves--they are all here to prove their superior intellect, and their inclination to obey no one but themselves.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Gramercy; F edition (July 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517219557
• ISBN-13: 978-0517219553
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 7.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,437,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nicole Hollander is the creator of Sylvia, an internationally syndicated comic strip that appears in over eighty newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit News, the Boston Globe, and the Seattle Times. She has published sixteen collections of Sylvia strips, as well as Female Problems and My Cat's Not Fat, He's Just Big-Boned. She lives in Chicago.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hysterical, December 22, 2003

By 

Toniann Scime "Librarian" (Amherst, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cats with Attitude (Hardcover)

Nicole Hollander has here written the funniest book I've ever read in my life. Of course, to be fair, I do suppose you have to be something of a cat lover (or at least, live with cats) to understand her wit and humor -- in other words, the concept of two cats holding their owner's 1040 hostage for food might be lost on the uninitiated.

The only thing I will say is that this particular edition contains two books, "Everything Here Is Mine" and "My Cat's Not Fat, He's Just Big Boned". The latter contains much of the same material that was in the former. Still, the price for both is the same as the price for one, so why not?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALibraryCat.com Approves This Book, January 5, 2008

By 

Marisa D'vari (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cats with Attitude (Hardcover)

From Marisa Katana D'Vari of a Library Cat Dot Com

"Cats always like what you're eating better than what they're eating," says Nicole Hollander in her hilarious cat humor book, Cats With Attitude. This book is actually two books in one, as Hollander's publisher decided to combine Everything Here is Mine and My Cat's Not Fat, He's Just Big-Boned in one edition.

What's best about Hollander's work is that it's impossible to turn a page without bursting out in laughter. Cat owners can recognize many of the behaviors Hollander describes in their own cats. For example, Hollander describes how she tried to train her cat to use the toilet, instead of a litter box. It brought back memories of the time I purchased a kit designed for this purpose, a sort of seat one was instructed to line with plastic wrap and sprinkle with cat litter.

When my then-kitten didn't quite respond, I placed calls to the technical support number listed in the instructions. At first, whoever answered the phone told me that the person I needed to speak to was out of the office. Many calls later they finally broke the news that the kit was a sort of gag gift, not to be taken seriously.

Hollander, apparently, had better luck. Yet she discounts this sort of training for one key reason: cats don't flush. Worse, once trained they expect their own bathroom. Of course, all cat owners - especially owners lucky enough to have marble bathroom floors - know that cats are quick to appropriate this room as their own.

In my new apartment, I decided to take the master bathroom and designated a guest bath for the cat. Of course, the cat decided she liked the cool marble floor and elegant fixtures of the master bath, so we sort of had to tough it out. Hollander also has a chapter on cats and the law.

The fact that cats love luxury is a recurring (re-purring?) theme in this book - which every cat owner knows. Hollander states that in California, if one leaves a cat alone in a car that is neither a convertible nor a BMW, the owner may be liable for a heavy fine. How true!

A very funny section concerns the astrological signs of cats. A Gemini cat, for example, is "easily bored" and must be kept amused with toys or games else they get edgy and look for a new home. A Virgo cat is meticulous and critical. "Keep their litter ox clean or they'll get even."

All in all, Cats with Attitude is the perfect gift for a cat-loving friend, or a book to read whenever you feel down. Just one caveat! Don't let your cat catch you reading this! They prefer to think that no one, least of all humor writers, are onto their secrets.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hollander Has It Right, July 3, 2005

By 

Robert I. Hedges - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cats with Attitude (Hardcover)

As someone who has lived with cats since childhood, I can say that Nicole Hollander has truly nailed the personalities of these comical and sometimes exasperating creatures. This book is actually a compilation of two earlier books, so some of the material may be familiar to you, but the book is a bargain and can't help but make anyone who lives with cats laugh. I recommend this book to anyone who loves (or merely lives tolerantly with) these quirky animals.