Customer Reviews

The House Guests (Gm)

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I had always been a Travis McGee fan and enjoyed other MacDonald books as well. Then I stumbled on "The House Guests" in the library. A nonfiction look at John D. Macdonald's life with pets over the years, I found this book a compelling look inside the life of the creator of T. McGee. I just enjoy the way this man writes, whether it be pulp fiction of this warm tale of domesticity. I love knowing that the creator of the perennially unattached T. Mcgee was a loyal husband and family man. And animal lover. So sad that we lost this talented writer way too soon.

John D. MacDonald's work has been compared favorably with the best writers America has produced. And I agree. There are stories in the House Guests about Mr. MacDonald's two cats that will make you laugh out loud and bring a tear to your eye. The House Guests is as close to a biography of John D. as I can find. It is not a work of Fiction

It is! MacDonald's first words in his forward: "This is not a luvums-divums-itsyboo book, about pooty-tats."

And it isn't. I've never been a fan of MacDonald mystery-thrillers. But the author demonstrates in this book that he's a multi-faceted human being. Of the hundreds of books available about house cats this one is among the best I've ever read. I sincerely hope someone brings it back into print. If you love cats and books about human attachments to animals you'll love this book.

"THE HOUSE GUESTS" LEAVES NO QUESTION WHY JOHN D. MacDONALD RECIEVED SEVERAL HONORARY PhDs IN LITERATURE. IT IS AN EXCELLENT READ, WHETHER ONE LIKES CATS OR NOT.

If you are a cat person, you'll love this book. If you are a mystery fan, you'll love this book. I discovered this title after reading and re-reading all of John D.s Travis McGee series, and his same high-quality writing WITH wonderful descriptions of antic animals can be found here.

The book, a paperback, arrived torn almost completely in half. The padded envelope it was shipped in was undamaged. This NOT 'fair condition'. This is totally unacceptable. One would think Goodwill would have some ethics!