Customer Reviews

Ernie: A Photographer's Memoir

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The great thing about this book is that the photos in it are not cutesy kitty shots. Mendoza lived with Ernie the cat for 2 years and he really captures the cat's personality in these images. You know how sometimes your cat gets this weird look in her eye and then goes flying off at top speed to attack something that you can't even see? That crazed energy? That's the mood that Mendoza captures in his photographs. Ernie has striking facial expressions which look great on film. The photos remind me of the wild and crazy things my own cats used to do -- that's why I think this book is a GREAT gift for cat owners. The picture of Ernie attacking Tony's hand with his mouth spread wide -- as if he could actually eat his whole hand if he tried hard enough -- priceless. Also, FYI, there is text accompanying most of the photos.

As you'll be able to see from this "memoir", cats are not only cute but also fierce, funny, witty, courageous and flexible. Tony Mendoza photographs his cat Ernie as Ernie is simply being a cat of his own. The photographs show exactly how cats are, without the cheesiness or patronizing cuteness.

Ernie's definitely a cat with character. I own two cats that bear similar markings to Ernie's and I only wish a skilled photographer such as Tony Mendoza would document their lives. Even if you don't like cats, the photography is astounding without being pretentious.

It is a great book to read to your cats at bedtime.

For all you cat-lovers, 'Ernie' is the antidote to all those cutesy cat books. This is a (sometimes) scary cat with balls, attitude and character, who knows what he wants and how to get it! A philosophoer, athlete, model - Mendoza's photographs capture the real Ernie as he is,in your face, with plenty to say.
This cat is where cats are really at.

I've purchased many "cat books" over the years, and this is the only one that I've bought over five copies of, because I had an irresistable urge to share it with my friends. Mendoza captures Ernie's independent spirit, his playfulness, his interaction with his feline world, and his beauty. As Mendoza writes, Ernie is a dream come true for black and white photography, and the new hardcover edition is a beauty. Never has a medium and a muse come together better. Okay, maybe that's a bit over the top, but this is a really good book. :)

So sang Hoyt Axton about a cat named Kalamazoo in one of his songs (Della and the dealer), but I suspect that a lot of cats have interesting stories if only they could tell, especially Ernie the subject of this book. Now this is no ordinary cat book - most cat books are found in the natural history section of bookstores but I found this in the art and photography section. You won't get a detailed analysis of cats' behavior here but you do get some dramatic photographs showing what cats get up to.

Tony Mendoza spent two years taking around 10,000 photographs of Ernie while living in rented accommodation in New York during the early eighties. Tony had never lived with a cat before and became fascinated by Ernie. Tony had difficulty getting his photographs published, but when eventually he succeeded, book sales far exceeded expectations. Despite its success, the book eventually went out of print and became a collectors' item. Eventually, public pressure mounted and Tony found a new publisher. This new, improved edition includes some extra photos omitted from the original book.

The text is highly amusing. Tony expresses his own thoughts about some of the situations while also suggesting what Ernie might be thinking. What really makes this book great is that Tony clearly respects Ernie, who definitely seems to be the dominant power in the relationship. All the photos are black and white, which may disappoint some people, but the quality makes up for that. Tony's photographic instincts ensured that he captured Ernie in all his moods, making for a very interesting book. If you're looking for soppy pictures of a cute kitty, you won't find them here - Ernie doesn't seem like the type of cat to waste his time posing for such shots anyway. Ernie (it seems) likes to live life on the wild side but is very protective of his own territory. Beware any other cat or (worse) dog that encroaches.

This book will make a wonderful gift for cat lovers everywhere but its appeal goes far beyond that substantial market. Ernie might even convince a few non-believers that cats are a lot more interesting than they ever imagined.

This book is in the waiting room at my vet's office. After reading it, I jotted down the ISBN number and ordered it for myself. Yes, the photographs are wonderful, but the heart of this book is the relationship between the cat and the photographer. All of us cat lovers (fanatics, if you prefer) know our animals well enough that Yes, We Do Know what they are thinking at times. The author perfectly captures the cat/human relationship with words and pictures.

As my husband and I flipped through this book, he kept asking, "Do we need to get this?" and I kept saying, "No." But then we got to one of the funniest pictures I've ever seen, and I was laughing too hard to say no again. We bought the book, and everyone I've shown it to thinks it's very clever.
I'm generally opposed to putting words in nonhuman animals' mouths, but at least Mendoza isn't cutesy about what Ernie might have to say. The book is really entertaining.

While I was browsing in a Virgin MegaStore last week, my attention was snagged by the cover of this book. I couldn't leave without looking through the entire thing.

Not only are the photographs wonderful, but the comments by Mr. Mendoza are delightly wry.

I am not a "cat person" per-se, but I not only bought this book as a gift for a cat-loving friend, but I also bought a copy for myself.

I love this book! It is beautiful with it's substantial cloth hard cover and stunning black and white photos. Amazingly talented photographer, Tony Mendoza, shares with us wonderful photos and clever stories of his loftmate's furry friend, a sprightly cat named Ernie. Mendoza has a sharp wit and a great sense of humor. It's not all about Ernie, we also catch a glimpse of what it is like to be a struggling artist in New York City, determined to succeed. I received my copy of "Ernie" as a birthday gift. Since then, I have given it to other friends and they were equally delighted and amused. WONDERFUL!

I encountered Ernie while visiting the Tate Modern bookstore here in London over the weekend, and was instantly won over by his crazy, self-possessed ways. The genius of Mendoza's work lies in his ability to faithfully capture the personality of his feline subject, with the same amount of detail and devotion one would expect to see in photographs of people. As a filmmaker and photography enthusiast, I have accumulated a library of photography books by those renowned in their field, and Mendoza's masterful memoir deserves its place amongst them. Sure, he is not a Pulitzer Prize winning war photographer, the subject is light-hearted but it is also sincere, which is the most you can ask of an artist. Ernie is a fine example of what photography and portraiture should be: an engaging and revealing insight into its subject, one that compels the viewer to revisit the photographs again and again, delighting and inspiring with each subsequent reading.