The Sophisticated Cat

Various

ISBN 10: 0525935223 / ISBN 13: 9780525935223

Published by Dutton, 1992

About this Item

Anthology of more than a hundred stories, poetry, and tales from Herodotus to authors and poets of the present, 396 pages. First printing. The binding is orange with a cloth spine and gilt lettering there. Dust jacket is illustrated, 6-1/4" x 9-1/4."

Very good condition.Small spot at top page edge and small smudge at upper binding. Small creases at bottom spine of dj.

Seller Inventory # 008543

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Sophisticated Cat
• Publisher: Dutton
• Publication Date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0525935223
• ISBN 13: 9780525935223
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

An anthology of classic stories and poems about cats features the work of Balzac, Chekhov, Colette, Poe, Twain, Runyon, Hemingway, Oates, Adams, LeGuin, Keats, Dickinson, Eliot, Zola, Saki, Wodehouse, and others. 25,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.

Reviews

In his introduction to this mostly delightful anthology, Antaeus editor Halpern stresses that cats are not unattached, independent creatures. Yet while many of these stories, poems and essays by 99 literary figures dispel misconceptions of the cat as aloof and uncommunicative, a surprising number of selections (by Faulkner, Rilke, Maupassant and others) propagate those same myths. Among the stories, standouts are Chekhov's tale about the impossibility of forcing a cat to do something against its wishes, P. G. Wodehouse's humorous portrayal of a "cat-pecked" artist, Ambrose Bierce's witty fables on cats transcending human expectations and pieces by Twain, Hemingway, Saki and James Herriot. Poetry selections include classics by Christopher Smart, Edward Lear and Vachel Lindsay as well as modern verse by Ted Hughes, John Updike and others for whom the cat is a touchstone teaching us how to achieve equilibrium, how to live. The weakest section, "Contemporary Storytellers on Cats," includes sketches and stories by co-editor Oates, Alice Adams and Francine Prose. The volume ends on a sour note with Roy Blount Jr.'s wrongheaded, ill-informed comparison of cats and dogs ("A cat can't smile"; "cats are less demanding emotionally "). BOMC and QPB selections.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.