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The Company of Cats
“The Company of Cats is the perfect gift for anyone suffering from shredded sofa, hairball carpet, and eau de catbox potpourri. These stories are irresistible. Curl up and enjoy.”— Amy Tan
Anyone who has ever been in awe of, in love with, fascinated by, or frustrated with the fabulous feline will treasure this small, elegant, and illustrated volume of cat tales. Twenty writers, including Alice Adams, Roald Dahl, Amy Hempel, Doris Lessing, Phillip Lopate, and Bobbie Ann Mason, capture the endless charm of these proud and graceful creatures, while photographs by Tony Mendoza and an album of cartoons by Roz Chast provide visual delight. Every story expresses the unique relationship between humans and the cats who own them.
Anyone who has ever been in awe of, in love with, fascinated by, or frustrated with the fabulous feline will treasure this small, elegant, and illustrated volume of cat tales. Twenty writers, including Alice Adams, Roald Dahl, Amy Hempel, Doris Lessing, Phillip Lopate, and Bobbie Ann Mason, capture the endless charm of these proud and graceful creatures, while photographs by Tony Mendoza and an album of cartoons by Roz Chast provide visual delight. Every story expresses the unique relationship between humans and the cats who own them.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Michael J. Rosen
126 books29 followersRosen's Website should provide all this and more. It's http://www.fidosopher.com.
Nonetheless: Michael J. Rosen is an American author and illustrator with over 120 books of fiction, nonfiction, humor, picture books, poetry, and more. With a strong interest in nature and animals, reflecting his animal behavior degree from Ohio State University, Rosen resides within a peaceful crease of Central Ohio with his pack of animal companions that include 2 small koi ponds he helped build on the 100 acres he shares in the foothills of the Ohio Appalachians. An avid dog lover, he was inspired by Chant, his newest Australian stumpy-tail cattle dog, which led to the creation of his newest book of fiction, The Tale of Rescue, which will be released in October 2015. With an MFA in poetry from Columbia University, Rosen also showcases his skills and talents in other projects such as The Maine Coon’s Haiku: And Other Poems for Cat Lovers (2015).
Nonetheless: Michael J. Rosen is an American author and illustrator with over 120 books of fiction, nonfiction, humor, picture books, poetry, and more. With a strong interest in nature and animals, reflecting his animal behavior degree from Ohio State University, Rosen resides within a peaceful crease of Central Ohio with his pack of animal companions that include 2 small koi ponds he helped build on the 100 acres he shares in the foothills of the Ohio Appalachians. An avid dog lover, he was inspired by Chant, his newest Australian stumpy-tail cattle dog, which led to the creation of his newest book of fiction, The Tale of Rescue, which will be released in October 2015. With an MFA in poetry from Columbia University, Rosen also showcases his skills and talents in other projects such as The Maine Coon’s Haiku: And Other Poems for Cat Lovers (2015).
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 13, 2019
If you like cats, think almost any story can be improved with cats, avoid this book. This is a collection of stories about people who really should have signs saying "Not allowed to have a cat...ever." Few cats have happy endings here; and a great many die. Not sure what makes this contemporary unless it's the thoughtlessness that permeates these tales. Tempted to take the authors names and keep them on a permanent "ugh, never" list and no, Roz Chast isn't any better. Just as creepy and mean as the tales themselves. (And not in a Charles Addams kind of way.)But I admit I've never found her amusing. The whole thing is Blech.
February 13, 2021
I have given this book 3 stars. You might think that is an ok score, but it is a bare minimum for a book good enough for me to actually finish reading.
First, skip the introduction, save yourself the pain.
This book was ostensibly created to benifit cats. Well, at least to fund animal welfare and adoption agencies. You might be expecting comfortable maybe even humorous cat escapades. There are a few of those. BUT in five of the twenty tails cats are killed or die by direct human agency.
The editor admits he prefers dogs, I believe him.
The stories are well written, just not what I would have put together in support of cat wellfare.
First, skip the introduction, save yourself the pain.
This book was ostensibly created to benifit cats. Well, at least to fund animal welfare and adoption agencies. You might be expecting comfortable maybe even humorous cat escapades. There are a few of those. BUT in five of the twenty tails cats are killed or die by direct human agency.
The editor admits he prefers dogs, I believe him.
The stories are well written, just not what I would have put together in support of cat wellfare.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2008
The Company of Cats is a collection of short stories, photographs and comics about cats. Michael J. Rosen chose stories from well known and well respected authors so the book should be good but it falls short on its promise of an enjoyable read for cat lovers.
I think the problem lies not with the stories themselves but with presentation of the book. The book is printed and bound in the same fashion that uplifting gift books are done. With the tiny and sometimes ornate font and duotone photographs, it looks like a book that should have lighthearted and short stories. What one gets instead is twenty literary works. The disconnect between the text and presentation makes for an unnecessarily difficult to read.
The authors included are: Alice Adams, Roald Dahl, Amy Hempel, Doris Lessing, Phillip Lopate, and Bobbie Ann Mason. The story by Lessing, while depressing, was actually one of my favorites in the collection.
I think the problem lies not with the stories themselves but with presentation of the book. The book is printed and bound in the same fashion that uplifting gift books are done. With the tiny and sometimes ornate font and duotone photographs, it looks like a book that should have lighthearted and short stories. What one gets instead is twenty literary works. The disconnect between the text and presentation makes for an unnecessarily difficult to read.
The authors included are: Alice Adams, Roald Dahl, Amy Hempel, Doris Lessing, Phillip Lopate, and Bobbie Ann Mason. The story by Lessing, while depressing, was actually one of my favorites in the collection.
March 1, 2024
Terrible book. Only made it half way through, it kept getting worse. The stories are depressing & terrible. Usually incomplete stories with no end… unless the cat dies. Don’t read!
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August 23, 2025This is a collection of stories about people with cats, not stories about cats and their people. A lot more stories with cruelty to animals than I would have expected in a book raising funds for animal rescue.
Pull quote/note
"...Bill McKibben's arresting idea that Nature has been, until recently, precisely those places that have not been made by humans. With the far-reaching consequences of industrialization, we have taken Nature into human custody. 'We have changed the atmosphere, and thus we are changing the weather. By changing the weather, we make every spot on earth man-made and artificial. We have deprived nature of its independence, and that is fatal to its meaning. Nature's independence is its meaning; without it there is nothing but us.' The cat's familiar independence is more than a trait of the species; it is, in this light, an example of something outside humankind, beyond our engineering hand. Couldn't a story's account of relationship with a cat summon some of these larger, even global, issues of dominion? Couldn't the cat be a figure of metonymy, a part that stands for the whole—a whole, which, in this case, is the ultimate idea of wholeness, the Nature from which we have wrenched ourselves?" (xxiii) the changing the weather bit got me. The rest...well, you certainly could postulate the things you just postulated
Pull quote/note
"...Bill McKibben's arresting idea that Nature has been, until recently, precisely those places that have not been made by humans. With the far-reaching consequences of industrialization, we have taken Nature into human custody. 'We have changed the atmosphere, and thus we are changing the weather. By changing the weather, we make every spot on earth man-made and artificial. We have deprived nature of its independence, and that is fatal to its meaning. Nature's independence is its meaning; without it there is nothing but us.' The cat's familiar independence is more than a trait of the species; it is, in this light, an example of something outside humankind, beyond our engineering hand. Couldn't a story's account of relationship with a cat summon some of these larger, even global, issues of dominion? Couldn't the cat be a figure of metonymy, a part that stands for the whole—a whole, which, in this case, is the ultimate idea of wholeness, the Nature from which we have wrenched ourselves?" (xxiii) the changing the weather bit got me. The rest...well, you certainly could postulate the things you just postulated
October 14, 2025
Horribly upsetting stories. The themes are dark - related to death, loss, change, sickness and the cats are mistreated in 80% of the ones I read, or there is a mention of mistreatment. I didn't even finish it after reading story after story trying to find some redemption. Moments of cat-related charm is few and far between, if even prevalent.
I've recently lost both my cats and bought this at a vintage store because I flipped through and saw the (admittedly) charming cartoons, thinking it would be a whimsical and uplifting read. But the synopsis of this book is incorrect. This is a book for people who enjoy disturbing, emotional and, at best, pensive and often heavy stories about humanity that just happen to be tangentially related to cats. The writing is good/poetic at times but who cares? I didn't get this book to be introduced to intense literature. I felt sad and mislead and angry when, story after story, I kept reading to see if I was just getting one or two "serious" stories. Nope. The whole book seems to be this way.
I've recently lost both my cats and bought this at a vintage store because I flipped through and saw the (admittedly) charming cartoons, thinking it would be a whimsical and uplifting read. But the synopsis of this book is incorrect. This is a book for people who enjoy disturbing, emotional and, at best, pensive and often heavy stories about humanity that just happen to be tangentially related to cats. The writing is good/poetic at times but who cares? I didn't get this book to be introduced to intense literature. I felt sad and mislead and angry when, story after story, I kept reading to see if I was just getting one or two "serious" stories. Nope. The whole book seems to be this way.
September 16, 2019
Interesting collection of stories from well-known and some obscure authors about people and their cats. A couple were dry and uninteresting, but most were fun to read. As a cat-lover, I enjoyed this, even if it was published in 1992.
December 22, 2014
Mostly well written stories where cats are some of the characters. Not stories "about" cats. Very well done. If it had been better copy edited I would have given it 4 stars.
February 10, 2015
Entertaining decent short stories, all of which feature a cat or two.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews