Cats are Weird and More Observations

Cat Books

by Jeffrey Brown

Cartoonist Jeffrey Brown's drawings perfectly capture the humor and quirkiness of cats in all their strange and charming glory. Following the success of Cat Getting Out of a Bag , this all-new collection of color and black-and-white comic strips loosely follows the adventures of a pair of cats as they explore the world around them, indoors and out. Adventures include taking a nap, licking a shoe, attacking dust particles, hiding in cabinets, pouncing on fallen leaves, confronting the vacuum cleaner, patrolling the yard, and purring up a stormall adorably rendered in Brown's immediate and irresistible style. Sure to delight anyone who lives with cats and appreciates their sweet and batty behavior, this beautifully packaged gift book is the cat's meow.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Humor, Comics, Cats, Animals, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels Comics

108 pages, Hardcover

First published July 28, 2010

About the author

Jeffrey Brown was born in 1975 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and grew up reading comic books with dreams of someday drawing them, only to abandon them and focus on becoming a 'fine artist.' While earning his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brown abandoned painting and began drawing comics with his first autobiographical book 'Clumsy' in 2001. Since then he's drawn a dozen books for publishers including TopShelf, Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, McSweeney's and Chronicle Books. Simon & Schuster published his latest graphic memoir 'Funny Misshapen Body.' In addition to directing an animated video for the band Death Cab For Cutie, Brown has had his work featured on NPR's 'This American Life' His art has been shown at galleries in New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and Paris. Jeffrey's work has also appeared in the Best American Comics series and received the Ignatz Award in 2003 for 'Outstanding Minicomic.'
He currently lives in Chicago with his wife Jennifer and their son Oscar.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

♥ x 1000

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is about cats and how awesome and strange they are.

I was greatly amused by a review that said that the reviewer wished this book had more substance.

My cat is currently sitting on the couch, licking his tummy. His gut is very substantial.

[Rizal · Rating 4 out of 5]

People with cats would appreciate this.

Simple, not much texts, and adorable.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to rate comics like this but it was hilarious so I'm giving it 5 stars.

This pretty much exemplifies why my partner wants a cat and why I don't want one. Yeah they’re funny and cute and a little odd but they’re also annoying and irritating and somewhat evil.

This was a really fun read.

[Iben Frederiksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

★ 4.0 stars ★

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why yes, I am a crazy cat lady who loves comics. How could I not like this book? It helps, of course, that the observations are spot on.

...read most of this book with a cat snoring on one arm and another cat curled up next to my hip. It's not a bad life.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a key word in the title of this book - observations. This is not a collection of humorous comic strips (although some are lightly amusing). Instead it's a short-hand observer's notebook of cat incidents. As a cat owner, a lot of them are very relatable; my cats do a lot of what he's documented. But my problem with this book is that it just observes; there's no commentary. Cats are weird? Okay. Why should I care? There's nothing here that justifies the collection. No humor, no deep thoughts, no exploration of how cat weirdness affects us, or should. There's some well done drawings of cats, some less well-done strips that feature cats doing cat things, and no... soul. There are lots of cat comics out there, and I would recommend you look into those. This is... okay. But you can do better.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love cats. They are hilarious. This is a fun light comic book that documents some of the delightfully weird stuff cats do. I would recommend picking it up for a fun 30 minutes of reading.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has made me desire a new feline in my life. Perhaps that is the point, to affirm a love of cats.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is in the same style as "cat getting out of a bag", a mix of cat observation with humorous cartoon style illustrations. If you have ever owned or lived some time with a cat (after all who owns who) you very quickly start to recognise their antics in this book. I think the most entertaining ones are those where you think "yes my cat does that, yes just LIKE that" and that is where i think the appeal of this book really lies. Great read and one I think I could go back to time and time again (rather like the Simons Cat series) and still raise a smile even though I recognise each page instantly.

[Samuel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cats are cute enough, but otherwise, I was pretty disappointed by this one. The cartoons themselves seemed to stop at the level of "these sure are some things that cats do," rather than adding much in the way of observations, or commentary, or humor. The situations are recognizable...but that's all. Any given volume of Garfield is funnier than this, and I don't even particularly like Garfield.

[D'Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is adorable. If you like cats you will like this book. If you like cats but don't like this book you are dumb. If you don't like cats, well, that doesn't make you dumb. But you might still like this book.

[Xanthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gently amusing book for those of us who have lived with cats. My favourite was 'The Look'. We've all been on the receiving end of that one!
I liked the stylised drawings of the two cats but I also liked the more realistic ones of them, scattered throughout the book.

[Megan RFA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very adorable art - and he is right. Cats are weird.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cats...
Just brilliant, that's exactly how cats are. I have one, I should know.

[Kylie Kaemke · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute comic about how weird cats are!

[Lina K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needed some wholesome cat content to brighten my day a little.

[Nadiah Razali · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute ❤️

[Ray Flores · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5
If you’re a cat lover like me, you’re probably gonna like this.
This book is a cute compilation of illustrations about cats and their particular behavior. Doesn’t have dialogue but it’s perfectly understandable for the audience.
The art style is more inclined to a more traditional side; so, if you’re into that, I’m sure you’re going to love it.
It is a short graphic novel, therefore a fast read, so I’m glad I picked this up.
I think that if they have this title on your local library, you should totally give this a chance.

[Brian James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This comical study of cat behavior looks at the many remarkable qualities of feline nature. Staples of the animal's evolutionary oddities such as the inexplicable fear of the vacuum, the inability to sit without wandering in circles first, the impromptu sneak attack, and a cat's instinctive desire to prevent humans from accomplishing work at a desk are all covered here in hilarious detail.

Any cat owner will recognize the many instances that Jeffery Brown chooses to illustrate. The take on peculiar cat behavior is spot-on and the simple, expressive drawings capture the joy we find in observing such peculiarities. Told in one page cartoons, or two-page spreads, the panels tell a slice of life story in comic strip fashion. Readers of all ages will find some moment in these pages to laugh out loud.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like there wasn't much of a narrative to most of these observations. I'm open to the idea that I just don't "get it" because I've never been much of a cat person. Most of my friends own cats, so I was hoping this would give me some insight into their world. Unfortunately not.

[Abi Forslin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I might have been expecting something other than just cats, but it was just cats. And then it just made me feel like my own cats have been dreadfully unoriginal. But in a good way.

[Jorge Rosas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book is an amusing and very funny look into the life and behavior of the amazing and weird species known as cats.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my old cat to a T!

[Mr. Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son finds this book utterly hilarious---I do too

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cats ARE weird, anyone who has a cat will tell you this. They sometimes run about for no reason chasing nothing, they squeeze into the strangest of places and go to sleep there, they meow for food and then walk away without touching it once they've received it.

Well, Jeffrey Brown has noticed these things too and has decided to make a 100+ pages book on the subject. It's mostly silent and alternates between colour and black and white pages, and it all looks very pretty, printed on good paper and packaged in a dinky attractive hardcover, but what you get is the little foibles of cats filling each page and I felt that it wasn't enough content for a book.

Brown's drawing style has gotten better since the last book of his I read a few years back, "Unlikely" and his use of colour is effective. If you've got or had a cat then you'll notice most, if not all, of these observations so it's not the most engrossing read as you'll be thinking "Yeah my cat does that. And?". Hopefully his next work will have more substance.

[Dionisia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cat book? Yes! The front and back covers are filled with embedded panels illustrating some typical moments of cat weirdness. It has such a great texture and feel, as if you could pet the cats if you wanted to. [ahem, not that I tried or anything.] The heavy pages and scattered pops of color were a nice touch too.

I'm so happy I stumbled upon Jeffrey Brown's cat-related comics. These books really helped me appreciate my crazy-ass cat's quirks. We started off with a strained relationship....her getting into things and me asking the universe why it had done this to me. Minnie is my first cat. She's not the cat I would have picked for myself. We are more like accidental roommates. A coworker found her, and knowing my soft spot for the denizens of the animal kingdom, passed her off to me. She was a sickly little thing. I nursed her back to health only to find out that she was maybe a tad loopy. I like to think that now we understand each other a little better.

Cats are weird. So is Minnie. It's nice to get this kind of confirmation and be able to laugh about it.

[Austinp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to tell you about the very short and easy comic book, Cats Are Weird (and more observations). Cartoonist Jeffrey Brown's drawings perfectly capture the humor and unusual traits of cats in everyday life. This collection of color and black-and-white comic strips loosely follows the adventures of a pair of cats as they explore the world around them, indoors and out. Adventures include taking a nap, licking a shoe, attacking dust particles, hiding in cabinets, pouncing on fallen leaves, confronting the vacuum cleaner, patrolling the yard, and purring up a storm, all creatively made in Brown's irresistible style. Some strengths of this book are that the illustrations are very well done and they relay hidden messages about cats’ lives that are usually true. Although, this book does have several weaknesses, including the fact that it has no overall storyline, which I expect from a comic book, but the illustrations are hard to distinguish from one another. I recommend this book to any of my classmates who live with cats and appreciate their sweet behavior.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this after absolutely adoring Cat Getting Out Of A Bag, and it certainly didn't disappoint. The first book was so clever, I didn't think there was a chance a second could be as clever, accurate or hilarious.

Brown's observations of cats are completely spot on, and his simple drawing style captures their essence perfectly. Each of his short comics perfectly show the hilarity, weirdness and cuteness of cats. Most drawings aren't particularly 'good' - they're very simplistic and cartoonish. However Brown is clearly a talented artist, and has honed in on a perfect medium for his message.

[Fizzgig · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book had okay graphics. Some of the one page art was more detailed and beautiful. Most of the stories were telling the obvious. There was little humor. For me, the book was a checklist of stuff my cats have done. The art was mostly meh. The stories were obvious. Nothing original.