The Mythology of Cats: Feline Legend and Lore Through the Ages [Hardcover]

Gerald Hausman (Author), Loretta Hausman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1998

The authors of The Mythology of Dogs, Gerald and Loretta Hausman, have been researching and writing about cat mythology for decades. In this cat-ivating collection of over fifty tales, they celebrate the spiritual and mythological magic of our feline friends.

Meet...
-- The cat who consoled Jack Kerouac -- The cat who named the country of Scotland -- The cat who worked as a maitre d' -- The cat who traveled through Persia -- The cat who inspired Ernest Hemingway -- And many more fascinating felines

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

It is common knowledge that cats have been the familiars of witches and that they possess nine lives. But how many people know that Buddha and Muhammad had beloved feline companions or that throughout the ages cats have been regarded in a positive manner as healers, caretakers, spirit guides, harbingers of good luck, martyrs, and deities who confer fertility on the fields? The Hausmans, authors of The Mythology of Dogs (St. Martin's, 1997) and other books on mythology, spent two decades researching the lore of cats. The result is an entertaining compilation of legends from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Asia; folktales from medieval Europe; and literary references from modern poetry and fiction. Each tale concludes with a description of a specific breed that seems to typify the legend. An extensive bibliography is included. More comprehensive than Robert De Larouche's The Secret Life of Cats (LJ 9/15/95), this book is recommended for public libraries with large folklore or pet collections. (Illustrations not seen.)?Florence Scarinci, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

There is an invisible danger attached to the Hausmans' paean to cats. It is extremely difficult to sift throuqh the 30 different personalities and almost as many breeds before succumbing to temptation and bringing home a mewing kitten. Other than that, the book is an ailurophile's delight, with literary excerpts and legends to remember. The Cheshire cat (aka British shorthair) evokes Alice in Wonderland memories, while good-luck cats--as exemplified by the Burmese, Chartreux, and Korat--effectively destroy myths of devil affiliations. After a while, the prose occasionally lapses into a sing-song rhythm; all in all, though, a reference for party chatterers, a browser for idle leisure time, and an homage to feline companion animals. Barbara Jacobs

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (August 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312186339
• ISBN-13: 978-0312186333
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,458,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am an inveterate storyteller, which is to say: I love to do it, am helpless not to do it, and I do it all the time, even when I am by myself there is an inner monologue going on in my head. This habit of privately roving around in the land of legends is something I've done for as long as I can remember. My mom worried about me when she saw that I spent too much time by myself. I would creep into a closet and close the door and in the silence of the darkness I would spin tales of all kinds. I was never lonely as a kid because I had the imagination of a wild thing, and I was content to play in the fields and valleys and secret caves of that imaginary world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars the archetypal cat, February 3, 2008

By 

Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Mythology of Cats: Feline Legend and Lore through the Ages (Paperback)

Not a scholarly compendium, The Mythology of Cats is more an engaging collection of folkloric stories, drawn from history, literature, and religion. Organized into 25 sections by various breeds and filled with pithy quotes, this book covers such ideas as feline aloofness and self-containment, the portrayal of this mysterious animal in works by such notables as Steinbeck, Twain, and Yeats, and the role of the cat in various times and cultures. The evolution of breeds old and new, wild and tame, is briefly but informatively discussed, as are such traits as clairvoyance, intelligence, and loyalty. This is a book for readers who have experienced satisfying relationships with these wonderful creatures, informative and entertaining at the same time. Enjoy!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every cat lover should read this, January 25, 2000

By 

Carlene H.BOTT - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mythology of Cats: Feline Legend and Lore Through the Ages (Hardcover)

Select whatever cat you love in this book to read such interesting details of the personality and legends about your cat. Contains very accurate references to other cat literature and famous cat people. You will want to read these books too. There are fascinating and entertaining stories which will provoke you to read further into the "Mythology of Cats" about other cat types of your acquaintance. You will associate cats in your life with so many of the characteristics described.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not the Cat's Meow, July 8, 2003

By 

jrmspnc (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mythology of Cats: Feline Legend and Lore Through the Ages (Hardcover)

I'm a big fan of cats, believing them to be superior in nearly every way that counts to dogs. But a love of cats is not enough to get one through this poorly crafted book. "Poorly crafted" is precisely what I mean. The Hausmans appear unable to decide whether they are relating anecdotes, myths, popular culture, vetrinary science or something else altogether. The narrative tone varies from pedantic to pseudo-scholarly to mind-numblingly pedestrian - sometimes in the same sentence. There is an appalling lack of structure, as well. The Hausmans thought it would be cute to section the book into chapters by cat breeds, but are unable to stick to their own plan. Each chapter itself is supposed to be divided into a "lore" section and a "fact" section, but, again, the division is truer in name than reality. Ultimately, the whole thing reads somewhat like Robert Graves' analysis sections in The Greek Myths without the scholarly impact. I can think of more succinct summary of the book than "lame."