Anyone who has ever been owned by a cat will find these speculations engaging, finely tuned, and always with plenty of fond...
An exploration into the emotional complexity of cats, with lots of literary references but mostly personal observations, from Masson (Why Elephants Weep, 1995, etc.).
What Masson did for dogs in Dogs Never Lie About Love (1997), he does here for cats. As always when considering animal behavior, he admits from the get-go that he’s on sketchy ground, making speculations that are intended as food for thought: “We will probably never know what goes through their minds.” There are times when readers may wonder why he chose these “primary” emotions to investigate—narcissism, love, contentment, attachment, jealousy, fear, anger, curiosity, playfulness, and a dozen subsidiary states—when he is confounded by a few of them: “Are cats narcissistic? No.” Or “Is this jealousy, or is it perhaps some feline rule of etiquette?” But then, much of the time cats are nothing if not inscrutable, as Masson is happy to admit. Their mystery is much of their charm. Yet it’s Masson’s purpose to offer up considerations of cat behavior. Is their attachment a transference—a nostalgia—for the time when they were kittens? And when it comes to attachment, is it more to the world around them than to their human companions? (Masson believes cats are more fully happy when allowed freedom to roam, a point he presents persuasively, unlike many cat enthusiasts.) Much of what the author has to say is common sense: that cats show fear out of threat (but don’t worry; they live in the moment); show contentment from a sense of security (but not happiness: that takes freedom); and can communicate acceptance (purring has been known to lower human blood pressure, perhaps because we have been chosen by one so self-possessed).
Anyone who has ever been owned by a cat will find these speculations engaging, finely tuned, and always with plenty of fond anecdotal evidence as they charge across the species barrier.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-345-44882-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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