SOLVED. 2 Hardcover anthologies of cat and dog short stories, from the 1950s or earlier most likely, titled along the lines of "The Book of Dogs/ The Book of Cats". [s]

[eclaire de lune]

This is a pair of books I read over a decade ago, although judging by the condition of the books and the contents I'm guessing they were published much, much earlier, probably midcentury. I'm also not entirely sure they were meant to be a set, as they were both similar but not exactly the same in their bindings, covers, etc. I believe one or both were dark green or beige, possibly with gray stripes on the spine. Both books were anthologies of short stories, one about dogs, the other about cats. They had fairly generic titles like "The Book of Dogs/The Book of Cats" (which does not make searching for them any easier).

The dog book contained several well-known short stories such as Rudyard Kipling's Garm and Stephen Crane's The Dark Brown Dog. The longest and most central story in it was almost a novella, and it was about a number of dogs that lived together with a rich family in America, told from the dogs' POV. The plot centered mostly around one of the dogs, a cocker spaniel, going into heat and having a romance with a male dog that the owners brought in. Other cast members include the cocker spaniel's two children (named Freddy and Tuppence or something similar), a high-strung and jealous Italian greyhound, and an old terrier that talked like a British general.

The cat book I remember less well, but I recall it wasn't quite able to pull together the same amount of stories that showed affection for the pet in question as the dog book - there seemed to be a number of bleak or offputting stories in there. The one I remember most clearly is about a cat that gains the ability to talk and subsequently spills all the dirty secrets of the polite society members it has been observing for years, leading it to be kicked out of its house.

As far as I can ascertain, these books are not Dog Stories and Cat Stories, as they were published too recently.

[[deleted user]]

The Fireside Book of Dog Stories?

[eclaire de lune]

Cass wrote: "The Fireside Book of Dog Stories?"

Yes! That's definitely it for the dog book, though there doesn't seem to be a corresponding "Fireside Book of Cat Stories" so that must have been something different.

[[deleted user]]

eclaire de lune wrote: "Cass wrote: "The Fireside Book of Dog Stories?"

Yes! That's definitely it for the dog book, though there doesn't seem to be a corresponding "Fireside Book of Cat Stories" so that mu..."
Wait really!? You're my first book find! I'm so glad it's found :))

[[deleted user]]

eclaire de lune wrote: "Cass wrote: "The Fireside Book of Dog Stories?"

Yes! That's definitely it for the dog book, though there doesn't seem to be a corresponding "Fireside Book of Cat Stories" so that mu..."

Now that you see the cover of the dog book, does that jog your memories of the cat book cover? Any authors that were in the cat book? The authors were crucial for me finding the dog book so even one author would help :))

[[deleted user]]

All Cats go to Heaven?

[[deleted user]]

A Quorum of Cats: An Anthology

[eclaire de lune]

Happy to be your first! Unfortunately the cover doesn't remind me of much, ours didn't even have that Dalmation on the front - I think the cat book had a plain cover, or if anything maybe a paw print decoration. I can't really remember any of the authors either but I'll keep digging.

[[deleted user]]

eclaire de lune wrote: "Happy to be your first! Unfortunately the cover doesn't remind me of much, ours didn't even have that Dalmation on the front - I think the cat book had a plain cover, or if anything maybe a paw pri..."

Since the dog book wasn't green or beige, do you think that cat one is more likely to be?

[eclaire de lune]

Possibly! Although my memory might be pretty shaky (maybe it was gray? maybe it was dark blue? maybe it was red like the other one lol).

The more I'm digging in, the more likely I think it is that it's one of a handful of cat story anthologies by Era Zistel, though I'm having a hard time identifying which specific one, since they really only seem to exist as listings on Amazon/Ebay/Thriftbooks and I can't get any previews of the content.

[[deleted user]]

A Gathering of Cats
A Treasury of Cat Stories
A Cat Called Christopher
Wintertime Cat
Selected Cat Stories
Golden Book of Cat Stories

Any of these covers look familiar?

[eclaire de lune]

I'm leaning towards Selected Cat Stories (if I look it up without the dust jacket) or Golden Book of Cat Stories - I'll have to sleep on it and see if that jogs my memory!

[[deleted user]]

eclaire de lune wrote: "I'm leaning towards Selected Cat Stories (if I look it up without the dust jacket) or Golden Book of Cat Stories - I'll have to sleep on it and see if that jogs my memory!"

Does anyone in your family remember the books? You could ask them their opinion on the two!

[Amber (Daisymau)]

Both these book are available to borrow from archive.org

A Gathering of Cats and A Treasury of Cat Stories

[eclaire de lune]

Amber (Daisymau) wrote: "Both these book are available to borrow from archive.org

A Gathering of Cats and A Treasury of Cat Stories"

I think it's pretty conclusively not either of those.

Cass wrote: "Does anyone in your family remember the books? You could ask them their opinion on the two!..."

Oh believe me, I have tried lol. I may need to go back home in person and hunt for the books myself, if they haven't been thrown out already...

I appreciate all the help!

[[deleted user]]

eclaire de lune wrote: "Amber (Daisymau) wrote: "Both these book are available to borrow from archive.org

A Gathering of Cats and A Treasury of Cat Stories"

I think it's pretty conclusivel..."

Of course! I can search online to see if there are any dirt-cheap copies of either of the two you're thinking of. Otherwise, good luck, and let me know if you need anything else!

[[deleted user]]

Cass wrote: "eclaire de lune wrote: "Amber (Daisymau) wrote: "Both these book are available to borrow from archive.org

A Gathering of Cats and A Treasury of Cat Stories"

I think..."

Selected cat stories runs for 51 dollars on trusted websites (so not cheap, ugh) and golden book of cat stories for 5 bucks on thriftbooks.com which many people trust (in terms of scams and that) or used on amazon for 6 bucks. I'll copy the links for both.

https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Stories...

Ok, for some reason the Thriftbooks link won't copy. Anyway, I'll check if the selected cat stories book is on Amazon right now. I'll just look now and add it to this comment...

https://www.amazon.com/Selected-stori...
Ok, so that's thirty dollars but has a different cover than the one on GoodReads. The simple thing you were talking about (like a blank color with a single small illustration)

Hope any of this helps!

[eclaire de lune]

I'm going to go with Selected Cat Stories; it just feels more "right."

Thanks again for the assistance!

[[deleted user]]

eclaire de lune wrote: "I'm going to go with Selected Cat Stories; it just feels more "right."

Thanks again for the assistance!"

Of course! If you need anything else you know where to come!