Invisible Kitties: A Feline Study of Fluid Mechanics or The Spurious Incidents of the Cats in the Night-Time

by Yu Yoyo, Jeremy Tiang (Translator)

Overview

"Utterly charming, particularly so for cat-lovers, who might argue that every bit of magic here is absolutely true." —Booklist (starred review)

"A world that will feel both familiar and engagingly fantastical to cat people everywhere." —Washington Post

In this whimsical and inventive debut—perfect for fans of The Guest Cat and Calvino’s Invisible Cities—a young couple’s daily life is disrupted by their newly adopted cat, who soon initiates them into the wondrous world of felines.

Equal parts magical and humorous, Invisible Kitties tells the story of a young couple that one day accidentally comes into possession of a delightful, playful kitten. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, this new companion, aptly named Cat, upturns the routine of the narrator and her husband in their cramped apartment, and soon they find their existence forever altered as they gradually gain insight into the fantastical world of cats.

Every cat contains multitudes... Charting the couple’s ever-evolving relationship with cats –some they live with, others who exist solely in their imagination– Invisible Kitties introduces us to a coterie of extraordinary, physics-defying, death-defying cats. They drop from the sky, they grow from the soil, they transmute. They fly, flow, and evaporate. The young couple’s everyday life, often eclipsed by the drama of cats, offers a gentle glimpse of how joy can suddenly sneak into our lives.

Composed of sixty chapters written in Yu Yoyo’s elegant and witty style along with the author's illustrations— Invisible Kitties is a celebration of ordinary life and the felines we love, deftly playing with the invisible boundaries between reality and imagination.

Translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063336223
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/01/2024
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 5.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Born in 1990, Sichuanese poet Yu Yoyo had already begun to earn critical attention before she turned sixteen, publishing dozens of poems in Poetry, Poetry Monthly, and other prestigious publications in China. She studied business management and accounting in university, but she never gave up on her long-standing passion for poetry and finally embraced her life’s calling upon graduation. She is now seen as a representative voice among the post-’90s generation, and is especially known for her mature voice and subtle treatment of modern femininity. Her poems have been translated into English, Korean, Russian, French, Japanese, and Swedish. Yoyo has published the following collections in China: Seven Years (2012), Me as Bait (2016), Wind Can’t (2019), and Against Body (2019). Her first English collection, My Tenantless Body, was published by the Poetry Translation Centre in 2019. Invisible Kitties is her first novel. She currently lives in Chengdu. 

Editorial Reviews

"Chinese poet Yu’s fiction debut is utterly charming, particularly so for cat-lovers, who might argue that every bit of magic here is absolutely true. Award-winning translator Tiang ensures smooth, playful anglophone access. During 60 pithy chapters—not unlike bursts of irresistible energy—Yu interprets endless kitty antics while her whimsical black-and-white sketches enhance every chapter, with every page framed in inviting pawprints." — Booklist (starred review)

“Yoyo, a poet and visual artist, deploys her talents imaginatively to convey a world that will feel both familiar and engagingly fantastical to cat people everywhere.” — Washington Post

From the Publisher