Secrets of the Cat: Its Lore, Legend, and Lives

by Barbara Holland

Overview

What is really going on behind thoseluminous feline eyes?

Affectionate yet aloof, intelligentand inquisitive yet dangerouslycareless, the more-or-lessdomesticated house catintrigues us as no other animal can.Now Barbara Holland offers cat loversa fascinating, funny, and refreshinglycandid look at their feline companions:their history, lore, and secrets, and theircomplicated relations with people andwith each other.

Secrets of the Cat is a livelyappreciation of cats as we know andlove them, with witty analysis and freshobservations about felines both high andlow. Here are Winston Churchill’s gingertom, who attended cabinet meetings;Teddy Roosevelt’s cat, Slippers, whocame to dinner; and even the author’sown George II, who was bitten by amouse and adopted by a blue jay. BarbaraHolland’s warm, vivid speculations oncats’ lives and times—on their social,psychic, and mythological legacy, and theirimpenetrable mysteries—will give readersa delightful cat’s-eye view of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062025012
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/17/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	243
Sales rank:	842,393
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Barbara Holland's books include Secrets of the Cat, Hail to the Chief, and One's Company. Her articles have appeared in Arts and Entertainment, Country Journal, and Smithsonian. She lives in Bluemont, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 The Conversion of Boston Blackie 1

2 Smart Like Us 13

3 People with Cats 33

4 Cats with People 57

5 Cats with Cats 77

6 The Cat's Early Years 99

7 Cats and the Church 117

8 A Choice of Cats 139

9 Show Business 165

10 Medical Matters 177

11 Sex and Kittens 197

12 Practical Cats 211

Editorial Reviews

Smart, bright, well-written....A book about cats as good as this one is rare.” — Smithsonian

“May be the most elegantly written, witty, perceptive statement about felines ever published.” — Philadelphia Inquirer

“Charming....Will soften the heart of even a certified ailurophobe.” — Publishers Weekly

“Perhaps the best aspect of the book, combined with Holland’s style, is the appropriately low-grade temperature of the cat/human philosophizing—nicely situated between Sartre and Wild Kingdom.” — Trenton NJ Times

“An absolutely wonderful and sometimes hilarious and always soulful book.” — Mademoiselle

From the Publisher

May be the most elegantly written, witty, perceptive statement about felines ever published.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Perhaps the best aspect of the book, combined with Holland’s style, is the appropriately low-grade temperature of the cat/human philosophizing—nicely situated between Sartre and Wild Kingdom.

Trenton NJ Times

An absolutely wonderful and sometimes hilarious and always soulful book.

Mademoiselle

Smart, bright, well-written....A book about cats as good as this one is rare.

Smithsonian