Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats
An intimate memoir about the importance of community and care in a world that can feel impossibly broken— and a story about accidentally going viral while tending to a colony of feral cats.

When Courtney Gustafson moved into a rental house in the Poets Square neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, she didn’t know that the property came with thirty feral cats. Focused only on her own survival—in a new relationship, during a pandemic, with poor mental health and a job that didn’t pay enough—Courtney was reluctant to spend any of her own time or money caring for the wayward animals.

But the cats—their pleading eyes, their ribs showing, the new kittens born in the driveway—didn’t give her a choice.

She had no idea about the grief and hardship of animal rescue, the staggering size of the problem in neighborhoods across the country. And she couldn’t have imagined how that struggle—toward an ethics of care, of individuals trying their best amid spectacularly failing systems—would help pierce a personal darkness she’d wrestled with for much of her life. She also didn’t expect that the TikTok and Instagram accounts she created to share the quirky personalities of the wild but lovable cats, like Monkey, Goldie, Francois, and Sad Boy, would end up saving her home.

Courtney writes toward a vision of connectedness—from the dark alleys where she feeds feral cats, from inside the tragically neglected homes where she climbs over piles of trash and occasionally animals, from her own driveway with the cats she loves and must sometimes let go. Compelling and tender, Poets Square is as much about cats as it is about the urgency of care, community, and a little bit of dumb hope.
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Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats
An intimate memoir about the importance of community and care in a world that can feel impossibly broken— and a story about accidentally going viral while tending to a colony of feral cats.

When Courtney Gustafson moved into a rental house in the Poets Square neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, she didn’t know that the property came with thirty feral cats. Focused only on her own survival—in a new relationship, during a pandemic, with poor mental health and a job that didn’t pay enough—Courtney was reluctant to spend any of her own time or money caring for the wayward animals.

But the cats—their pleading eyes, their ribs showing, the new kittens born in the driveway—didn’t give her a choice.

She had no idea about the grief and hardship of animal rescue, the staggering size of the problem in neighborhoods across the country. And she couldn’t have imagined how that struggle—toward an ethics of care, of individuals trying their best amid spectacularly failing systems—would help pierce a personal darkness she’d wrestled with for much of her life. She also didn’t expect that the TikTok and Instagram accounts she created to share the quirky personalities of the wild but lovable cats, like Monkey, Goldie, Francois, and Sad Boy, would end up saving her home.

Courtney writes toward a vision of connectedness—from the dark alleys where she feeds feral cats, from inside the tragically neglected homes where she climbs over piles of trash and occasionally animals, from her own driveway with the cats she loves and must sometimes let go. Compelling and tender, Poets Square is as much about cats as it is about the urgency of care, community, and a little bit of dumb hope.
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Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats

Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats

by Courtney Gustafson
Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats

Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats

by Courtney Gustafson

Hardcover

$28.00 
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Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Courtney didn’t set out to become a “cat lady” — but she’s found meaning and purpose in doing so. Here she shares the tragedies and triumphs of her years tending to the unexpected strays in her own yard and spreading her love and care to the feral cats of Tucson. This is a moving and deeply personal memoir about answering the call to help the helpless.

An intimate memoir about the importance of community and care in a world that can feel impossibly broken— and a story about accidentally going viral while tending to a colony of feral cats.

When Courtney Gustafson moved into a rental house in the Poets Square neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, she didn’t know that the property came with thirty feral cats. Focused only on her own survival—in a new relationship, during a pandemic, with poor mental health and a job that didn’t pay enough—Courtney was reluctant to spend any of her own time or money caring for the wayward animals.

But the cats—their pleading eyes, their ribs showing, the new kittens born in the driveway—didn’t give her a choice.

She had no idea about the grief and hardship of animal rescue, the staggering size of the problem in neighborhoods across the country. And she couldn’t have imagined how that struggle—toward an ethics of care, of individuals trying their best amid spectacularly failing systems—would help pierce a personal darkness she’d wrestled with for much of her life. She also didn’t expect that the TikTok and Instagram accounts she created to share the quirky personalities of the wild but lovable cats, like Monkey, Goldie, Francois, and Sad Boy, would end up saving her home.

Courtney writes toward a vision of connectedness—from the dark alleys where she feeds feral cats, from inside the tragically neglected homes where she climbs over piles of trash and occasionally animals, from her own driveway with the cats she loves and must sometimes let go. Compelling and tender, Poets Square is as much about cats as it is about the urgency of care, community, and a little bit of dumb hope.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780593727614
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Publication date: 04/29/2025
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 5,677
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Courtney Gustafson is a cat rescuer, community organizer, and creator of Poets Square Cats on TikTok and Instagram. She lives and works in Tucson, Arizona.
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