The Personality of the Cat

by Brandt Aymar (Editor)

A delightful collection of reflections on the feline contains selections from famous artists, writers, poets, and essayists, such as Pablo Picasso, Rudyard Kipling, T. S. Eliot, and others.

Genres: Fiction, Animals, Short Stories, Cats

341 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 1993

Reviews

[George Ilsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's face it, I'm always going to be reading this book. There's always more here, something forgotten, something sad, some cat that is not treated with the extreme reverence bestowed upon the fur-babies of today. It is historical and timeless. This is a book about cats. But not just any cats — yesterday’s cats. Prepare to be disturbed.

Mostly prose, with a scattering of poetry and art — cats and more cats. Cats are a muse and cats amuse. Cats are a challenge to depict realistically, so the art is wildly diverse.

The editor, an admirer of the male form, is shown with two Siamese cats — no need to jump to conclusions!!

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Granted when I took this book off of my bookshelf to read I went in thinking it was nonfiction, but realized by the cover it was a collection of stories and poems. That being said most of the stories were dark and being the animal lover that I am quite personally really hard to read.
I was determined to finish it though and I have to realize this book was originally published in 1958 with some of the stories dating back years before that. So I did take that into consideration as I read some of the stories on how ignorant we used to be in the treatment of animals.

This quote was in one of the stories however and it hit me in the feels:
Schopenhauer has said that the reason domestic pets are so lovable and so helpful to us is because they enjoy, quietly and placidly, the present moment. Life holds no future for them, and consequently no care; if they are content, their contentment is absolute; and our jaded and wearied spirits find a natural relief in the sight of creatures whose little cups of happiness can so easily be filled to the brim.

So just remember if you pick up this book it's rather quirky and has a lot of different stories and poems from different authors and is not of this time.

[Tobie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book would be fun and cheerful. It is a collection of short stories about cats and excerpts involving cats from books not necessarily about cats. This book was published in 1958 so much of this prose was written when animals were less appreciated than they are now. I won't go into details, but if you are sensitive about the treatment of cats by humans I would avoid atleast some of this book. There is a story written by a mystery author I enjoy reading, but even his story was difficult. I usually love books from this era, but this was a little brutal.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

These story collections are both great choices for animal lovers who are looking for the kind of cozy, heartwarming book you can curl up with for a relaxing evening. . . with cat or dog on lap, naturally.

Full review at Lone Star on a Lark

[Danielle Vandehaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love cats, you will love this book. As delightful as it is, it does show its history quite clearly with the lack of modern veterinary care and some racial stereotypes though, so if you do read it, be sure to keep it within the time it was written or else you may end up very disappointed.