Cats in the Parsonage (All God's Creatures Series, Book 1) [Paperback]

Clair (Author), Jr. Shaffer (Author)

Book Description

Series: All God's Creatures | Publication Date: January 5, 2001

Taffy and Tiffany came into their lives over a decade ago, and nothing has been the same since! These two little rascals have brought joy and delight into the lives Clair and his wife Brenda as only two lovable kitties could. As the years have gone by, this country preacher and his wife have learned valuable lessons and enjoyed many hours of hilarity watching the antics of their two little furballs as they lovingly call them. You'll chuckle and you'll be touched by their delightful stories, but above all you'll discover the significance of Clair's favorite verse, "Ask the animals and they will teach you" (Job 12:17)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Clair Schaffer was born and raised in rural, central Pennssylvania. While working his way through college,he raised a catand began to appreciateall her quirks and delights. He had a wide variety of work experiences and enjoyed being a manager of personnel for a retail store where he workedwith his wife Brendafor three years before they were married. About 16 years ago he took a temporary positionas a pastor of two churches and has been with them ever since. He is currently working on his doctorate degree. After reading numerous cat books, he decided that his cats, Taffy and Tiffany, lived as exciting life of any he had read aboutand began to put their lively escapadesdown on paper.

Product Details

• Paperback: 174 pages
• Publisher: Evergreen Press (AL); 1st Ed. edition (January 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581690606
• ISBN-13: 978-1581690606
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,977,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This is an Irritating Book!, September 18, 2006

By 

Lauren K. (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cats in the Parsonage (All God's Creatures Series, Book 1) (Paperback)

I received this as a gift because I LOVE cats! I could only read so much. In the first 17 pages, the author has an "outside" cat that gives birth to 5 kittens, 2 of which get run over. Those 3 then have kittens of their own, bringing the total to 16 cats.
The author doesn't think about being a responsible pet owner and having them spayed or nuetered. One of the cats has a
hard time giving birth, and is weak and sick for days afterward. Does the owner take her to a vet? Of course not!
He leaves everything up to God. The writing is peppered with religious talk that makes me sick, because the owners won't even take care of their pets! I couldn't finish the book- it made me so angry.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars No James Herriot, July 28, 2008

By 

Bess L. Walker - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cats in the Parsonage (All God's Creatures Series, Book 1) (Paperback)

Cute cat stories interspersed with miniature sermons.

While I enjoyed the cat stories, I didn't think they were particularly well-written. Not poorly written, mind you, but it is quite clear that the author is not accustomed to writing long works or well-experienced at stringing his anecdotes together. (As he is a minister, I assume he is proficient at the shorter works he must compose every week for his sermons!)

Most chapters end with a sermon, attempting to tie the stories of the chapter to a Christian lesson. These would have worked better for me if they had been gently worked into the chapters, but many will enjoy them -- I found them too preachy and an abrupt departure from the cutesy cat stories.

Moreover, I think I would have been a lot more impressed with the lessons he claims to have learned from the cats if one of them had been "Hey, all these outdoor neighborhood cats we love keep getting run over by cars -- let's bring them inside or at least spay the mothers so they stop dropping doomed-to-die kittens" instead of "You should keep loving even though sometimes it ends up hurting you." It's really sad to read the occasional mentions of these poor outdoor critters among the cute indoor cat stories, and doubly sad because the author, his wife, and his neighbors don't seem to think about it or how they could stop it. Giving playful lectures to the stray female cats about promiscuity is all very well, but a trip to the vet would have been rather more effective.

In the end, I can't recommend this book to cat lovers -- and who else would really be interested in it? I'll be selling my copy to the used bookshop or putting it up on BookMooch.com, because I'm not interested in keeping such a thing.

3.0 out of 5 stars Everyday life with cats...., November 22, 2010

By 

Tadg's Mom - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cats in the Parsonage (All God's Creatures Series, Book 1) (Paperback)

I had difficulty adjusting to the writing style at first, but by the time I had finished reading about Tiffy and Taffy, I was in love with the everyday tales of these cats from their caretaker's point of view. I have three inside cats and I see bits of Tiffy and Taffy's personalities in each one. I enjoyed reading about the cats' antics and at the end of each chapter, how Shaffer relates the stories to God's love for us. If you don't want to read the "religious" aspects, skip the last paragraph of the chapter.