Take the love you feel for one and love all. The process is terrifying. Loving the world is not like the trust fall exercise you did in EST, summer camp, or your last corporate retreat; loving the world is far bigger than that and far more impossible.

I'll say this much: you won't read the book if you don't love animals, but if you love animals, whether or not you know who this guy is, this is one to read. Not because it's brilliant but because sometimes you like hearing how much other people love being a pet owner as much as you do.

It was sort of a fluke finding Galaxy's show "My Cat From Hell," to be honest. But the minute I started watching I really fell in love with him. He's a big dude with tattoos, piercings, and he carries himself like one of those too-cool-for-life guys. But the second he opens his mouth and steps into the homes of people who are desperate for help with their cats, he is one of the most down to earth, humble people to watch. I'd go as far as to say he has a gift, but he'd probably hate that sort of term for what he can do.

See, the thing about Galaxy's attitude that makes me appreciate him so much is that he doesn't look at problems as things that can't be fixed. But anyone who watches the show (and reads the book) will learn pretty quickly that the "problems" people have with their pets are never about the pets. It's about the people. I'd venture to guess the bulk of the people dealing with cat problems on the show and in the book have them not because they're bad people or bad pet owners; for the most part, it's because they're struggling with something personally that they don't want to face. And that's where I think Galaxy's approach is one I can't stop watching or thinking about. He doesn't just "treat" and animal. He "treats" the people too. The idea that nothing is unfixable is something that's hard to grapple with, but it's true. There's no problem that can't be solved or adapted to. You just have to be willing to put in the work.

The book itself follows Galaxy's story from being a drug-addicted, goal-less guy just getting by. He admits to living a life that's just about survival, as long as he got to play his music at night. He was happy about it. But the chance opportunity to work in a shelter really caused him to reevaluate what it was that made him happy, and he realized that just connecting with the animals there -- both the four-legged kind and the two-legged kind -- brought him the kind of satisfaction he didn't know he could have. And he was GOOD at it, too.

He never portrays himself as a hero or even, really, as a likeable guy. But he doesn't play the pity card at all, either. Throughout the book, Galaxy talks about how being the caretaker for Benny, a notoriously hard-to-please cat, ultimately caused him to think about his own life and choices. Being forced to learn how to communicate with a difficult creature made him better able to be a communicator with himself.

But you see what he does here -- Galaxy gives you an impression of who he is, but he forces you to reevaluate your own biases because he is not at all what you'd expect of "someone like him." Just like a difficult cat isn't that, either.

The writing here isn't very good, to be honest, and the book itself meanders a lot. But I think for what it was, it was enjoyable. Galaxy lays out what a lot of people who love animals know, so it's much less about him and much more about reminding readers that animals can be a huge part of what makes life enjoyable. And yes, yes, yes, there is death in this book and there is more than one chapter about euthanasia, and yes, yes, yes, I cried my eyes out more than once. But the thing is, Galaxy's approach to it is really sort of empowering, rather than painful. He just has a damn good attitude, period.

Much as it isn't an award winning book nor never will be, it's worth it to read for animal lovers. The little blurb on the cover about there being tips for raising happy and healthy cats is a little misleading. There's very little of that.

I did read this while my three shelter-adopted cats snoozed happily on my lap, thank you very much.

I cannot believe I wrote this long a review about a book titled "Cat Daddy."