THOMAS GRAY, PHILOSOPHER CAT

by Philip J. Davis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 1988

A slight but winsome fantasy about a country cat who comes to Cambridge University and wows all the scholars--from mathematician Davis (the nonfiction No Way, 1987; The Thread, 1983). The cat Thomas Gray (who is a she) is born in a little English village, but sees great things for herself, and thus heads up to Cambridge, where she's given her name and taken as a pet by all the assembled dons. The white-and-gray feline immediately makes her genius felt when she helps Dr. Lucas Fysst solve an ancient mathematical problem having to do with square roots. From there she's off, helping Fysst find rare books and do research--an American publisher is even interested in having a ghost writer tell their story. But, one day, Thomas Gray disappears. The whole university is thrown into an uproar, and Fysst finally decides to go out hunting for her. He tracks her to her native village, where she explains (Thomas Gray and Fysst communicate via a kind of telepathy) that she needs some time away from the madding crowd. As luck would have it, Fysst falls in love with a pretty country waitress--and the three of them will now live happily ever after. Endearing, although a little self-consciously donnish. With clever illustrations by Marguerite Dorian.

Pub Date: Oct. 27, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION