Customer Reviews

A Year of Cats and Dogs

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To say I was blown away by Hawkins' book is nearly an understatement. The book is both whimsical, and very wise. Her Maryann is one of those delightful, tilted characters that you can't help falling for. The careers Hawkins creates for her are especially quirky. This was one of those books I wanted to make last a long time, so I picked up Annie Lamott's new book to read as a counterpoint. But "A Year of Cats and Dogs" was ever so much better (and I'm a big Lamott fan.) This book is truly a little treasure, and as soon as you get into it, you will think of four or five people you know that will just love it. Resist the temptation to loan it to them. Tell them to buy it so that this author can sustain herself to write full-time. I can't wait to read whatever she puts out next.

I very quickly connected with Maryanne, the main character who tells her story first person, memoir style. She brought a knowing smile to my face as she related how she just passed through a major transition in her life and then chose to go through another. What she discovers about herself and her immediate world reminded me to accept and believe. The book isn't all lesson, however. In large part, it is simply enjoyable with language that paints word pictures I'm still holding in my mind, having laid the book to rest around 1:00 this morning.

The author uses a few devices to advance the book and add layers of understanding, the two most notable being those I mentioned earlier - animals and the I Ching. While the I Ching does show up in the text, it is mostly found as the chapter titles, corresponding to each of the 64 hexagrams in the Chinese divination system. The I Ching is also known as the Book of Changes, an apt parallel to the year Maryanne shares with readers. Her relationship with her cat Clement and several dogs, especially Bob, Gregoire and Harvey are key to the self-discovery Maryanne experiences as well as much of the action in the book.

I read A Year of Cats and Dogs over about five or six sessions, mostly as my evening relaxation reading. I'm not a particularly fast reader, with fiction especially, so you may find it faster for you. I find that I like to re-read a section or pause to take in the images or feelings of what I've read. Still, as with all fiction (that I like), I had to force myself to call a break for sleep after an hour or so. I could have easily stayed up in to the wee hours reading it from cover to cover.

While I'm neither a voracious fiction reader nor particularly critical of literary conventions, I do want books that offer glimpses into the human condition through characters, relationships and symbolism. A Year of Cats and Dogs met my reading requirements nicely.

I picked this one up on a whim and am so glad I did. I read it in a day and hated to finish it. I loved her main character (I could so relate to her) and the moments of wisdom intertwined with life humor. Such a good story, kudos! Now I am so disappointed I have nothing else from her to read, as this is her first novel.

Looking forward to more!

I just finished reading A Year of Cats and Dogs, and I have to say, this is one of the best new novels to come along in quite some time. The narrator is intriguing by herself, but her ability to understand cats and dogs is so real and poignant that I couldn't wait to recommend it to my animal-loving friends. Hawkins has a beautiful, spare style, and explores relationships with a gentle, deft hand. I loved her take on relationships, parents, and siblings. This is a book I will definitely give for presents. I cannot wait for her to publish another book. I hope one is on its way soon.

When I left my job five years ago, feeling like the walls were closing in on me, I immediately started taking classes toward a nursing degree. Basically I segued from one unhappy situation to a highly stressful situation and nearly had a mental breakdown. In A Year of Cats and Dogs, Maryanne leaves her rather dreary day job with every intention of living off her savings and doing "nothing" for a while. She's 49-years-old and recently divorced, which has proved rather stressful of late, and she feels that she deserves this sort of break from reality and routine. She figures she'll be happier on her own timeclock. Maryanne approaches her life in a very Zen way. Things are going to happen and she cannot change the outcome but she can make everything more bearable, more enjoyable, and more entertaining in some manner. She finds that animals can communicate with her through telepathy [she's basically an "animal whisperer"]. This special talent leads to a job at the animal shelter and a romance with the veterinarian. Maryann also finds out that her father, who she cooks dinner for every week, has late-stage prostate cancer. Though she is surrounded by death, Maryann finds hopefulness in her own life. A Year of Cats and Dogs reads like a memoir instead of a novel as debut author Margaret Hawkins uses coin throws from the Chinese book of changes, I Ching, as headers for each chapter and intersperses comforting recipes throughout the book. A Year of Cats and Dogs is a quirky, engaging story about resilience, empathy and love.

I had absolutely no expectations when A Year of Cats and Dogs arrived on my doorstep, I'm not sure whether that was a good thing or not.
I'll readily admit that as I chugged through the first few chapters I found myself disliking Maryanne. I found her sad-sack personality a bit off-putting - though that's one of my own character flaws, as I feel this way whether the person in question be on the page or moping before me. I was starting to get worried that this book would forever be a glimp...more I had absolutely no expectations when A Year of Cats and Dogs arrived on my doorstep, I'm not sure whether that was a good thing or not.
I'll readily admit that as I chugged through the first few chapters I found myself disliking Maryanne. I found her sad-sack personality a bit off-putting - though that's one of my own character flaws, as I feel this way whether the person in question be on the page or moping before me. I was starting to get worried that this book would forever be a glimpse into the uneventful life of a deflated balloon of a woman, when it turned into something more. Maryanne seemed to develop more facets that I had come to expect and the story moved along nicely.


I'd have to agree that this is the anti midlife-crisis story of a woman who seems to be in the middle of a very difficult year. And while it isn't a life-altering novel, it is a nice little slice of life and worth a read.