Publishers Weekly
02/26/2024
Novelist Carr (the Kreizler series) delivers a lively and moving memoir about his 17-year companionship with a Siberian forest cat named Masha. Carr first met Masha while visiting a shelter in Vermont. The semi-feral cat was rescued from abandonment in an empty apartment and had developed a reputation among the staff for extreme skittishness. When an employee noticed Masha cozying up to Carr, the attendant implored him to adopt her, and he promptly brought her along to his new home in Upstate New York. Masha quickly took on the dominant role—she hated loud music, so Caleb edited his listening habits to satisfy her—and over the pair’s life together, Carr came into his own as a caretaker and a companion. He nursed Masha back to health after attacks from a bear and a pack of dogs, turned a blind eye when she stole visitors’ socks, and tended to her arthritis as his own health started to falter and he underwent surgery for peritonitis. Carr alternates the chronicle of his and Masha’s relationship with details about his unstable New York City childhood, which was marked by violent outbursts from an alcoholic father and drove him to find comfort in the family cats. Carr’s gift for narrative momentum gives shape to the potentially flimsy premise, and he wrings real pathos from this tale of wounded souls finding one another. Even readers without their own furry friend will be moved. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
Devastating and beautiful, by turns a fascinating book of animal psychology and a personal memoir of unrelenting trauma, it dares us to take a journey into love and pain…This is a tale of time and mortality and the link we share with the constant flux of the natural world…Written in poetic, mournful, and delicate prose, My Beloved Monster is a love story and a requiem.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“The most brilliant feline portrait in literary history.”
—People Magazine (Book of the Week)
"Excellent…Worth the emotional investment, and the tissues you will need by the end, to spend time with a writer and cat duo as extraordinary as Masha and Carr.”—Washington Post Book World
“My Beloved Monster is a loving and lovely, lay-it-all-on-the-line explication of one man’s fierce attachment.”—The New York Times
“Carr writes about cats with a tender vividness that might make you see your own pets through new eyes."—Los Angeles Times
“Within pages of starting this moving book, connoisseurs of fine prose may find themselves gasping with delight, as will cat lovers…One of the most powerful and beautiful grief narratives ever written, including all the memoirs about people.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“In writing that is as beautiful as it is unguarded, Caleb Carr tells the surprising and deeply affecting story of life with his remarkable cat Masha. It’s a book that will upend your assumptions about love, pain, commitment, cats, and probably the author himself. The whole experience, as a reader, is one I could not have imagined and roundly recommend.”
—Mary Roach, Author of FUZZ
"Lively and moving....Even readers without their own furry friend will be moved."—Publishers Weekly
"A love story of the best, most ethereal kind...Tears will flow, and they will be warranted."—Booklist
JUNE 2024 - AudioFile
James Lurie shares the joyous and painful moments of an extraordinary life. Listeners meet Caleb Carr, the late author of the wildly successful novel THE ALIENIST, and his great love, Masha, a Siberian forest cat. Carr's father, Lucien, was a cofounder of the Beat Generation. Caleb suffered emotional and physical abuse from his alcoholic parents. Lurie movingly recounts Caleb's chaotic early life and the spirited cats that saved him. Listeners rejoice when he rescues majestic Masha, who was also abused by her so-called "family." Caleb and Masha "promise" each other to always be together as they age and become ill. Lurie's voice takes on a generous tone as Caleb provides suggestions for other cat owners based on his comprehensive knowledge. Audio highlights their unique bond. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
