Homer's Odyssey [Hardcover]

Gwen Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 25, 2009

The last thing Gwen Cooper wanted was another cat. She already had two, not to mention a phenomenally underpaying job and a recently broken heart. But Homer was no ordinary cat. He was a three week old, abandoned, eyeless kitten and Gwen was unable to resist his charm. It was love at first sight. Homer, tagged as an 'underachiever' from day one, quickly proved his doubters wrong revealing himself to be a tiny dare devil with a giant heart and a passion for adventure. The kitten they said would never be as independent or as playful as the other cats eagerly made friends with every human who crossed his path, scaled seven foot bookcases with ease and chased off an intruder in the middle of the night. He even survived being trapped alone for days after 9/11 in an apartment near the World Trade Centre. "Homer's Odyssey" is the story of one cats unswerving loyalty, his infinite capacity for love, his constant happiness in the face of all obstacles and his ability to inspire and transform Gwen's life. He kept her company through the ups and downs of daily life and by the time she had met the man she would marry Gwen realised Homer had taught her the most valuable lesson of all: love isn't something you see with your eyes.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Book Description
Once in nine lives, something extraordinary happens...

The last thing Gwen Cooper wanted was another cat. She already had two, not to mention a phenomenally underpaying job and a recently broken heart. Then Gwen’s veterinarian called with a story about a three-week-old eyeless kitten who’d been abandoned. It was love at first sight.

Everyone warned that Homer would always be an "underachiever," never as playful or independent as other cats. But the kitten nobody believed in quickly grew into a three-pound dynamo, a tiny daredevil with a giant heart who eagerly made friends with every human who crossed his path. Homer scaled seven-foot bookcases with ease and leapt five feet into the air to catch flies in mid-buzz. He survived being trapped alone for days after 9/11 in an apartment near the World Trade Center, and even saved Gwen’s life when he chased off an intruder who broke into their home in the middle of the night.

But it was Homer’s unswerving loyalty, his infinite capacity for love, and his joy in the face of all obstacles that inspired Gwen daily and transformed her life. And by the time she met the man she would marry, she realized Homer had taught her the most important lesson of all: Love isn’t something you see with your eyes.

Homer’s Odyssey is the once-in-a-lifetime story of an extraordinary cat and his human companion. It celebrates the refusal to accept limits—on love, ability, or hope against overwhelming odds. By turns jubilant and moving, it’s a memoir for anybody who’s ever fallen completely and helplessly in love with a pet.

---

Amazon Exclusive: Gwen Cooper on Homer's Odyssey

I never wanted to be a writer of non-fiction. While I can honestly say that I dreamt of being a writer from my earliest discovery of books, memoirs held no interest for me. The stories I loved—and devoured with a single-minded intensity that charmed my English teachers while causing my math teachers to gnash their teeth in frustration—were stories that were larger than life, that played out on a grand scale. I read fairy tales, mythology (Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, Native American, you name it), epic poems, novels about soldiers, pirates, adventurers, explorers, heroes, magicians, revolutionaries, beautiful damsels, dashing cads, romances, tragedies, comedies—everything, in short, that struck me as just a touch more interesting than real life ever seemed to be.

It amazes me now that, for years, I never thought about Homer as being the hero of his own story. I knew that he was extraordinary, I knew that everybody who ever met him was full of questions—wanting to know why and how. But he was also just my cat, the goofy little guy who jumped around in circles when I came home at night, who loved to chase around stuffed toys, insisted on getting his fair share of tuna if I was making a tuna sandwich, and curled up in a tight ball on my left knee whenever I sat at the computer to email friends or finish up work projects.

The idea of writing about Homer didn’t occur to me until Laurence, my husband—who was then my boyfriend—met him for the first time and wanted to know (as most people do) how it was that Homer ended up blind. When I told him how Homer had been abandoned shortly after birth, how he’d been near death until he was brought in to my veterinarian, how the price of saving his life had been the loss of his vision, and how he’d still nearly met an inglorious end in an animal shelter because nobody wanted to adopt him until finally my vet called me—when he heard all that, Laurence’s response was, "He’s like Daredevil, like a comic book superhero. He has an origin story and everything."

Laurence was quite pleased with this analogy, and loved to expound upon it. When he observed that Homer was braver, faster, and more agile than my two sighted cats, or when he saw Homer leap five feet straight into the air to catch a buzzing fly in mid-flight, he would talk about Homer’s "superpowers." When I told him how Homer had once single-handedly chased off a burglar who broke into my apartment in the middle of the night, Laurence said, “You’re a storyteller—why don’t you tell some of these stories?”

It’s impossible to quantify or define the ways in which Homer has moved me, inspired me, and flat-out entertained me over the years. But perhaps the greatest gift he’s given me is the ability to find the heroism and grandeur of my favorite stories smack-dab in the middle of my everyday life. Don’t get me wrong—there’s plenty of action and larger-than-life adventure tales to be found in these pages. But Homer is extraordinary even when he’s at his most ordinary. No aspiring writer in love with adventure stories could have asked for better material.

I always wanted to be a writer, but I never wanted to be a writer of non-fiction. Sometimes, things work out differently than you think they will. Sometimes life picks you up and drops you in the middle of a story that’s better than any you could ever have imagined. Sometimes you don’t know what’s missing until you find it. Homer is the living proof.—Gwen Cooper

From Publishers Weekly

Cooper had every intention of saying no to the veterinarian who asked her if she was interested in adopting a four-week-old stray kitten with a particular handicap. She was fresh off a bad breakup, working a low-paying job and living rent-free in a friend's bedroom—plus she was worried about the social implications of adding one cat to the two she had already adopted: The neighborhood kids will... say things like 'That's where Old Widow Cooper, the cat lady, lives.' But as soon as she picked up the tiny kitten and he started to purr, she caved. She settled on a name and brought Homer home. His intrepid explorations of his new environs quickly challenged Cooper's expectations of a blind cat. And through 12 years, six moves, several boyfriends and a showdown with a burglar, this tender and affecting book reveals Homer's lessons about love and acceptance—and how he transformed Cooper into the woman she had always wanted to be. Photos. (Aug. 25)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; 1 edition (August 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038534385X
• ISBN-13: 978-0385343855
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (339 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #292,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gwen Cooper is the New York Times bestselling author of the memoir "Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat" and the novels "Love Saves the Day" and "Diary of a South Beach Party Girl." She is a frequent speaker at shelter fundraisers, donates 10% of her royalties from "Homer's Odyssey" to organizations that serve abused, abandoned, and disabled pets, and serves on the Advisory Board of Tabby's Place, a cage-free no-kill shelter in Ringoes, NJ. Gwen lives in Manhattan with her husband, Laurence. She also lives with her three perfect cats--Homer, Clayton, and Fanny--who aren't impressed with any of it.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

153 of 157 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An uplifting tale of adventure and love August 6, 2009

By M. Mills VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This nonfiction account of the life of Homer the cat is truly heartwarming. Gwen Cooper's writing is superb; it's so warm and personal, I felt like I was reading a story written by a close friend. (For this reason, I'm inclined to refer to her simply as "Gwen" in the rest of my review!) So engaging is this book that I could not put it down and eagerly finished all 300 pages within 24 hours. There's action, adventure, laughter, tears, danger, romance, suspense -- all the "essential" elements of bestselling fiction, but this is not fiction: every part of it is true. That's what makes this story so captivating.

Spoiler-free plot summary: A Miami native in her mid-20s, Gwen adopts her third cat, Homer, a very young, blind kitten that no one wanted. From day one, Homer is a spunky, nimble, demonstrative, fearless little cat. The feats he accomplishes are nothing short of amazing. Gwen decides she wants a better life for herself and her cats than her nonprofit job can provide; she works tirelessly and is eventually able to move to New York. Everyone in her life who meets Homer loves him, and vice versa (with very few exceptions, which you will read about). Gwen ties her own story of love and self-discovery to the life lessons that Homer teaches her.

For those who are extremely sensitive to animal suffering (as I am), you don't need to worry about any abuse, graphic details, or death in this book. When it comes to Homer's blindness, Gwen dispassionately states only the facts that are essential to the story and to the reader's sense of Homer's personality and agility. However, you will probably need a tissue at a few points, as people's sheer kindness, love, and generosity towards Gwen, and particularly Homer, are powerfully touching.

The chapter where Gwen is living in Manhattan's Financial District during 9/11 -- her apartment was on John Street (!) -- was an emotional one for me. With both the reader and Gwen herself acutely aware of the massive human suffering experienced that day, it's deeply moving to read her account of the unimaginable horrors she witnessed and her subsequent efforts to get back into Manhattan to reach her cats (her family). It's important to note, though, that this chapter is not graphic, sappy, or self-pitying in the least. In a technique that people often take on after a catastrophic event, Gwen stays steadfastly focused on the logical steps to reach her cats.

The only part of this book I found tiresome was near the end, where Gwen takes 10 long pages to describe the personality of her love interest in exacting detail. This could have easily been condensed into 2-3 pages while still getting the point across. Although this part has nothing to do with Homer, it will probably appeal to readers who like some romance in their literature.

I loved this book! Although it was poignant at times (not a bad thing), I laughed often and was filled with immense joy while reading it. This is an uplifting, satisfying tale that any cat lover would enjoy.

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How Fearlessly Leaping into the Unknown Can Change Everything July 24, 2009

By Phyllis Staff TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Gwen Cooper writes with heart. And that's really all you need to know to dive into her tale of love and growth. For whether you love cats or not (and I do), Gwen's tale is a story that will reach into your heart and stretch your soul.

There's no doubt that Homer, Gwen's eyeless cat, is extraordinary. Life in the dark would have appeared to predestined him to a life lived in quiet corners, but such was not to be. He jumped from heights into the unknown, and, as he did, taught Gwen to act freely and fearlessly in the face of the unknown. How could a tiny, blind cat terrorize a burglar/rapist? And yet, he did. How could he understand human emotions and react to human commands? And yet, he did.

Homer's Odyssey is a tale of an extraordinary cat, but it is so much more than that. It is a tale of growth, of learning to see what's inside (and it's not always beautiful) rather than being blinded by the illusory outside. It is a tale of becoming truly human through contact with a non-human species. It is a tale of acting on "blind" faith, and profiting through those actions. It is a tale of learning to see through the eyes of love.

I have seldom read a book I found so touching and so meaningful. Especially in these turbulent times, you'll find strength through the odyssey of a tiny cat and his mistress.

Five stars!

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars HOMER'S ODYSSEY EXCELLENT READ September 9, 2009

By Rhoda M. Palmateer

Format:Hardcover

Well, if the truth be known, Homer IS a special cat. I laughed out loud through most of this heartwarming book. And I even shed a few tender tears. The book is hilarious and unlike one reviewer, I found nothing preachy about it at all. I was on the edge of my seat while reading of her efforts to get back to the apartment after the World Trade Center tragedy. If you liked "Marley and Me", and "Dewey The Library Cat", you will totally love this book and you will shed no sad tears. I had difficulty putting the book down. I have a 3-legged cat and I think she is special. But Homer surpasses everything. This blind cat can really see his way right into one's heart.