For anyone who has ever been owned by a cat, these selected letters from readers of Michael Capuzzo's (with coauthor Teresa Banik Capuzzo, a Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist) syndicated column, ``Wild Things,'' will surely sound many familiar notes. This is very much an either/or book: Either you'll be nodding merrily along as the correspondents detail the strange and curious, the edifying and touching moments of a life shared with a cat; or the whole thing will fly right over your head (likely you and a cat have never cohabited), perhaps setting your teeth on edge when things get mawkish or infantile. A few of the names encountered here will be familiar to any reader of feline literatureElizabeth Marshall Thomas, Roger Caras, James Herriot, Cleveland Amory, though all of their letters read more like snippets from their booksbut for the most part the folks writing to Capuzzo are everyday Joes and Janes (and Hartriono Sastrowardoyos, whose cat, unbeknownst to Hartriono, recorded a greeting message on his answering machine), and they feel fresh and spontaneous and at times terribly vulnerable and quite personal. The chapter headings tell it all: ``On Love,'' ``Loyalty and Friendship,'' ``Heroism,'' ``Healing and Faith,'' ``Mystery and Mischief,'' etc.; the letters, most just a page or two long, are humble tales of a good mouser or a cat that felt the presence of the departed. Some retell an apt folktale, and there are a few poems and many stories of saying good-bye, of letting go. Not surprisingly, a number of the better pieces, those that with an economy of words convey the beguiling, sphinxlike qualities of a cat, are bylined Michael Capuzzo. In the end, all these letters attest to one simple point: Cats play cat-lovers like stringed instruments. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Product Description
In this captivating and heartwarming book, America's premier pet columnist, Michael Capuzzo, shares astonishing true tales celebrating the unique and unbreakable relationship between people and their cats. Drawn from history and literature as well as from cat lovers--both famous and not so famous-- from all walks of life all over the world, here are unforgettable tales that take us behind the cool, independent facade of the cat to reveal the sweet, sensitive, devoted creature within. Here are just a few of the cats guaranteed to catch your heart:
Priscilla, who meowed at her apartment door for two days. Finally her owners thought to check on their elderly neighbor and discovered that she had broken her hip and was unable to move.
Pearl and Skittles, the Keystone Cats, who watched over their household with total vigilance. Any problem--a clogged drain in the kitchen, a stereo left on at night--and they sounded the alarm, waking everyone in the house.
Murry, the cat who became the constant companion and protector of a young boy suffering from cystic fibrosis. His devotion was so great that when the boy's health began to fail, Murry seemed to lose his own will to live.
Nicholas, who every day fed the family pit bull; he jumped up on the kitchen table, grabbed a dog bone, and dropped it down to his pal. Later each day, as if to repay Nicholas, the pit bull happily licked the cat's head for ten minutes.
Subway, the beautiful orange tabby who not only survived being shot with a shotgun, but later, apparently killed in an accident, jumped out of the box he was to be buried in and frolicked among the guests at his own funeral.
In Cat Caught My Heart you will see cats in all their glory--their unique personalities, their irrepressible spirits, their gentle souls. You'll laugh at their antics, weep at their passing, and thank the heavens that these remarkable creatures are part of our lives.
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