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The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
This story blazes through Wyoming territory in the 1880s. We plunge into the lives of a fugitive U. S. Army officer planning a desperate train robbery. Characters include his diverse accomplices--a runaway white woman, and the lovely Indian girl, Cat Dancing, mother of the officer's children.
365 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
About the author
Marilyn Durham
3 books2 followersMarilyn Durham, née Marilyn Wall, born September 8, 1930, is an American author of fiction. Her best-known novel is her first, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, which was made into a film of the same name.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 26, 2020
DNF'd @ page 64
A couple of weeks ago I saw a bit of an episode of The Carol Burnett Show featuring Burt Reynolds and they were talking about one of his upcoming movies called The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing. I had never heard of it before but it sounded like it could be pretty interesting. On the show they said it was based on a book and I decided to give both the book and the movie try. Now, my hold on the book came in at the library and I can now officially say that it's just not for me at all. I'm still waiting on the movie to arrive, but I'll give it a fair try. Maybe I'll end up liking it more than the source material. I guess, we'll see.
A couple of weeks ago I saw a bit of an episode of The Carol Burnett Show featuring Burt Reynolds and they were talking about one of his upcoming movies called The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing. I had never heard of it before but it sounded like it could be pretty interesting. On the show they said it was based on a book and I decided to give both the book and the movie try. Now, my hold on the book came in at the library and I can now officially say that it's just not for me at all. I'm still waiting on the movie to arrive, but I'll give it a fair try. Maybe I'll end up liking it more than the source material. I guess, we'll see.
May 8, 2017
Haven't read this in many years, but I loved it when I was a teen. I remember the characters so well I was surprised that I had forgotten so much of the plot. Which means they are well defined if they stick with you. Kind of gory and quite dark, I guess I was a bit more bloodthirsty then. Interesting to re-read books from one's youth, and see how what one finds interesting or bothersome changes with time.
April 23, 2012
I was walking in the library looking at random books, and this title caught my eye. I have never read a western before this, and I am glad I started with this book. It was highly entertaining, and there were a few twists that I was expecting. Definitely recommend this book
February 15, 2020
Abandoned at 50%. It's just not for me.
August 15, 2018
I sort of expected this to suck and dragged my tail reading it for ages because of those low expectations, but... I killed the last half of it in one night. And enjoyed it. A bunch of stereotypes mashed together by some chick in the 1970s had no right to be as nuanced and decently composed as this ended up being. I just kind of assumed it was going to be some racist caricatures with traditional gender-roles and noble-savage crap going on.
And it seemed like it was that, for a while, but then it sort of went the other way on the noble savages, the distressed damsels, and the narrative. Also, there was a lot more rape than I expected. And it is laudable for not tarnishing the raped character. She isn't ruined and she's not faulted, it's just terrible dudes exist and she was in terrible situations. Is that nuanced? It seems nuanced, for a 70s book set in like, the 1870s or whenever this was supposed to be.
Good job, author I'd never heard of. I'm glad this book was gifted to me because there was a cat in the title. Totally unexpected gem.
And it seemed like it was that, for a while, but then it sort of went the other way on the noble savages, the distressed damsels, and the narrative. Also, there was a lot more rape than I expected. And it is laudable for not tarnishing the raped character. She isn't ruined and she's not faulted, it's just terrible dudes exist and she was in terrible situations. Is that nuanced? It seems nuanced, for a 70s book set in like, the 1870s or whenever this was supposed to be.
Good job, author I'd never heard of. I'm glad this book was gifted to me because there was a cat in the title. Totally unexpected gem.
March 29, 2015
Well, I'm neither a fan of westerns or romances so I was definitely in unusual territory reading this book. It was well written with some great characters but I couldn't reconcile myself with the fact that the male hero character murdered a woman because she cheated on him. Sure, he regretted it and punished himself for it but nowhere in the book did we ever get a point of view where someone said "So what!? You don't kill for romantic betrayal you macho asshole!" To make matters worse, our "feminist" heroine never seemed that bothered by it, she saw only the poor little boy who felt he wasn't loved. Ick.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2010
Originally read this when it came out, back in the '70s, when it was alleged to be a romance, although it doesn't fit a lot of the conventions. (Notably, the happy-ever-after one.) But it also does fit a lot of the conventions. Catherine and Jay are complex, interesting characters, and the story never once went in the direction I thought it would. Definitely worth rereading all these years later.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2007
People who know me will understand why I added the book.
December 23, 2009
I read this one years ago and something brought the title to mind. Really enjoyed it at the time.
February 2, 2010
It's a western - which I don't usually read - but truly a remarkable book
March 24, 2012
Great western romance! Excitement, passion and heartbreak. Quite a story.
September 1, 2012
great sad story, movie with i think burt reynolds? loved it, but ends sad
May 6, 2014
Mannen som älskade cat dancing,
Read
June 30, 2020The villainous Jay Grobart is haunted by guilt after murdering his own wife when he meets a woman named Catherine, who hails from the East. When he is on his way to rob a train, he decides to kidnap Catherine, and she is suddenly initiated into his life of crime. While they are both on the run, with Catherine’s husband and a railroad agent in hot pursuit, they fall in love. This unconventional comic Western was made into a 1973 film starring Burt Reynolds and Sarah Miles.
February 20, 2022
The wild west where a woman needs to know her place and stay there! So, of course, the primary female character is outspoken, stubborn, and hard-headed. The book begins with her running away from her husband just as the local train is being robbed. It's an action-packed, violent, and harsh look at 1880s Wyoming as told through the highly imaginative mind of a first-time novelist.
November 26, 2021
Not a fan. Definitely a product of it's time. Not horribly written though, just did not like what was written.
March 24, 2011
This book is a western were a man goes to jail for killing the men who hurt his wife. When he gets out he robs a train to get money to buy back his son. In the process he falls in love with the hostage. I think that this book had good points and bad. It had a tendency to drag in the where and when departments but the who the book was about carried it.
This hard back book was acquire from the McKay's free bin.
This hard back book was acquire from the McKay's free bin.
July 28, 2015
Well written cowboy book- good plot!
December 14, 2015
...It was pretty terrible...
October 11, 2017
Read back in the 70s. Also remember the movie version.
September 15, 2019
Excellent story with lots of surprises at the end.
February 8, 2015
In this book there was danger and romance. What an adventure! It held my attention!
Want to read
March 22, 2019MAN WHO LOVED CAT DANCING – 1972 – Marilyn Durham
The author is a native of Evansville, IN, in 1930, to Russell and Stacy Birdsall Wall. She received her education in the public schools and at what is now Evansville University (now called the University of Evansville) for a year (1949–50). She and her husband live there still, with two daughters, Elaine and Jennifer. Her father was an L&N blacksmith. She married Kilburn Durham, a field representative for Social Security, in November 1950, and settled into life as a wife and mother. She was a self-described "frumpy housewife." Durham had a lifelong interest in the history of medieval England, archaeology, theology, and astronomy
Mrs. Durham never attempted a novel before Man Who Loved Cat Dancing. She has written a second novel and a third novel.
One evening in 1969, Durham told her husband that she could write a novel better than any she had been reading lately. Eventually she set about doing this. While her daughters were in school, Durham began writing a novel at her dining room table. She made efforts to conceal her writing from her family because, in her words, "If it wasn't any good, I wanted to be the only one who knew. I didn't want egg on my face." Her husband discovered that she was writing when she had almost finished the sixth chapter, and she swore him to secrecy on the subject.
Durham sold The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing to Harcourt Brace, which published it in 1972. The novel is set in the American West in the 1880s, but is not written in a genre style. It is the story of Jay Grobert, a man of the West, and his offbeat relationship with Catherine Crocker, a woman from the East who is fleeing an unhappy marriage. Jay kidnaps Catherine on his way to rob a train and together they travel through the Wyoming Territory. Catherine eventually discovers that Jay is haunted by the murder of his wife, a Shoshone Indian named Cat Dancing, and his actions after the murder. Pursued by Catherine's husband and a railroad agent, Catherine and Jay fall in love. The novel became a best-seller and was generally praised by reviewers for its deft character studies as well as its effortlessly entertaining style.
The following year, the film version of the novel was released. Directed by Richard C. Sarafian, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing starred Burt Reynolds and British actress Sarah Miles. It would be Reynolds's first romantic movie. Many who regarded the novel highly were disappointed by its formulaic Hollywood treatment in the movie. Veteran screenwriter Eleanor Perry had written the first script and told Durham that she loved her heroine. But the studio then hired a string of "script doctors," all male, who completely rewrote the characters, dialogue, and to Durham's astonishment, the ending. Whereas Jay Grobert dies on the last page of the book, when Miles falls to her knees beside Reynolds, who has been gunned down, Reynolds says, "I think I can get up.
The following year, the film version of the novel was released. Directed by Richard C. Sarafian, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing starred Burt Reynolds and British actress Sarah Miles. It would be Reynolds's first romantic movie. Many who regarded the novel highly were disappointed by its formulaic Hollywood treatment in the movie. Veteran screenwriter Eleanor Perry had written the first script and told Durham that she loved her heroine. But the studio then hired a string of "script doctors," all male, who completely rewrote the characters, dialogue, and to Durham's astonishment, the ending. Whereas Jay Grobert dies on the last page of the book, when Miles falls to her knees beside Reynolds, who has been gunned down, Reynolds says, "I think I can get up.
urham spoke at writing workshops at the University of Evansville, Southern Indiana University, and numerous fiction writing groups in Evansville. From 1984-95, she worked as An instructor for McGraw-Hill's Continuing Education Center. In this position, she read and evaluated short fiction and instructed beginning novelists. She also taught Sunday school at Trinity United Methodist Church in downtown Evansville. She was planning a novel about the Spanish King Philip II and his son, Don Carlos, when she suffered a stroke in January 2012. Her novels have seen multiple reprintings and have been translated into many languages – She died March 19, 2015 – her husband died in 1994.
MAN WHO LOVED CAT DANCING
The novel is set in the American West in the 1880s, but is not written in a genre style. It is the story of Jay, a man of the West, and his offbeat relationship with Catherine, a woman from the East who is fleeing an unhappy marriage. Jay kidnaps Catherine on his way to rob a train and together they travel through the Wyoming Territory. Catherine a railroad agent, Catherine and Jay fall in love.
Jay Grobart - “There was no feeling in Grobart for what lay ahead of him and Charlie, and of the other two men he'd involved in his plan, but a cold despair. He felt the same way about unpleasant jobs many times, in the Army years. But he had never allowed his feelings to interfere with a campaign.”
Catherine Crocker - “Catherine Crocker finished strapping the bulging carpetbag to her gelding's saddle and glanced around once more to be sure no one was watching her prepare her escape....Let Willard bellow and weep, as he often did when he was angry. Nothing he could do would matter. She'd find work, she'd hide, she'd keep running until she fell off the world's edge rather than give in and relive her morning's humiliation.”
Willard Crocker - “...a big handsome man with a soft face and an agressive manner....”consulting mining engineer....see here., Laschance, there's more here than meets the eye. My wife has been kidnapped?'”
Chief Washakie - “He sat waiting to give audience like a king....He was old; incredibly old and wrinkled, but still straigt.....His face, very broad at the jaw, with a wide mouth, was like supple, worn leather drawn smooth over stone. His hooded eyes were slow moving and faded, but awake and keen; intelligent and curious.”
Cat Dancing - “'Cat was their last cub; the child of their old age, and their pet....She was the pet of the whole fort, I guess.....When Cat laughed, everybody liked her.....I could see she was going to be ----beautiful,. I had to get her out of there, away from the lice, and her father's cough, and what was waiting for her in a couple of years. So I bought her.'”
The author is a native of Evansville, IN, in 1930, to Russell and Stacy Birdsall Wall. She received her education in the public schools and at what is now Evansville University (now called the University of Evansville) for a year (1949–50). She and her husband live there still, with two daughters, Elaine and Jennifer. Her father was an L&N blacksmith. She married Kilburn Durham, a field representative for Social Security, in November 1950, and settled into life as a wife and mother. She was a self-described "frumpy housewife." Durham had a lifelong interest in the history of medieval England, archaeology, theology, and astronomy
Mrs. Durham never attempted a novel before Man Who Loved Cat Dancing. She has written a second novel and a third novel.
One evening in 1969, Durham told her husband that she could write a novel better than any she had been reading lately. Eventually she set about doing this. While her daughters were in school, Durham began writing a novel at her dining room table. She made efforts to conceal her writing from her family because, in her words, "If it wasn't any good, I wanted to be the only one who knew. I didn't want egg on my face." Her husband discovered that she was writing when she had almost finished the sixth chapter, and she swore him to secrecy on the subject.
Durham sold The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing to Harcourt Brace, which published it in 1972. The novel is set in the American West in the 1880s, but is not written in a genre style. It is the story of Jay Grobert, a man of the West, and his offbeat relationship with Catherine Crocker, a woman from the East who is fleeing an unhappy marriage. Jay kidnaps Catherine on his way to rob a train and together they travel through the Wyoming Territory. Catherine eventually discovers that Jay is haunted by the murder of his wife, a Shoshone Indian named Cat Dancing, and his actions after the murder. Pursued by Catherine's husband and a railroad agent, Catherine and Jay fall in love. The novel became a best-seller and was generally praised by reviewers for its deft character studies as well as its effortlessly entertaining style.
The following year, the film version of the novel was released. Directed by Richard C. Sarafian, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing starred Burt Reynolds and British actress Sarah Miles. It would be Reynolds's first romantic movie. Many who regarded the novel highly were disappointed by its formulaic Hollywood treatment in the movie. Veteran screenwriter Eleanor Perry had written the first script and told Durham that she loved her heroine. But the studio then hired a string of "script doctors," all male, who completely rewrote the characters, dialogue, and to Durham's astonishment, the ending. Whereas Jay Grobert dies on the last page of the book, when Miles falls to her knees beside Reynolds, who has been gunned down, Reynolds says, "I think I can get up.
The following year, the film version of the novel was released. Directed by Richard C. Sarafian, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing starred Burt Reynolds and British actress Sarah Miles. It would be Reynolds's first romantic movie. Many who regarded the novel highly were disappointed by its formulaic Hollywood treatment in the movie. Veteran screenwriter Eleanor Perry had written the first script and told Durham that she loved her heroine. But the studio then hired a string of "script doctors," all male, who completely rewrote the characters, dialogue, and to Durham's astonishment, the ending. Whereas Jay Grobert dies on the last page of the book, when Miles falls to her knees beside Reynolds, who has been gunned down, Reynolds says, "I think I can get up.
urham spoke at writing workshops at the University of Evansville, Southern Indiana University, and numerous fiction writing groups in Evansville. From 1984-95, she worked as An instructor for McGraw-Hill's Continuing Education Center. In this position, she read and evaluated short fiction and instructed beginning novelists. She also taught Sunday school at Trinity United Methodist Church in downtown Evansville. She was planning a novel about the Spanish King Philip II and his son, Don Carlos, when she suffered a stroke in January 2012. Her novels have seen multiple reprintings and have been translated into many languages – She died March 19, 2015 – her husband died in 1994.
MAN WHO LOVED CAT DANCING
The novel is set in the American West in the 1880s, but is not written in a genre style. It is the story of Jay, a man of the West, and his offbeat relationship with Catherine, a woman from the East who is fleeing an unhappy marriage. Jay kidnaps Catherine on his way to rob a train and together they travel through the Wyoming Territory. Catherine a railroad agent, Catherine and Jay fall in love.
Jay Grobart - “There was no feeling in Grobart for what lay ahead of him and Charlie, and of the other two men he'd involved in his plan, but a cold despair. He felt the same way about unpleasant jobs many times, in the Army years. But he had never allowed his feelings to interfere with a campaign.”
Catherine Crocker - “Catherine Crocker finished strapping the bulging carpetbag to her gelding's saddle and glanced around once more to be sure no one was watching her prepare her escape....Let Willard bellow and weep, as he often did when he was angry. Nothing he could do would matter. She'd find work, she'd hide, she'd keep running until she fell off the world's edge rather than give in and relive her morning's humiliation.”
Willard Crocker - “...a big handsome man with a soft face and an agressive manner....”consulting mining engineer....see here., Laschance, there's more here than meets the eye. My wife has been kidnapped?'”
Chief Washakie - “He sat waiting to give audience like a king....He was old; incredibly old and wrinkled, but still straigt.....His face, very broad at the jaw, with a wide mouth, was like supple, worn leather drawn smooth over stone. His hooded eyes were slow moving and faded, but awake and keen; intelligent and curious.”
Cat Dancing - “'Cat was their last cub; the child of their old age, and their pet....She was the pet of the whole fort, I guess.....When Cat laughed, everybody liked her.....I could see she was going to be ----beautiful,. I had to get her out of there, away from the lice, and her father's cough, and what was waiting for her in a couple of years. So I bought her.'”
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews