An entertaining, if limited, peek into the psyche of a cat torn between freedom and domestication.
A feisty feline faces the daunting task of negotiating his place in the intersecting worlds of cats and humans as he comes of age in this debut “animal tale for adults.”
Leo, the gray tabby “tough cat” narrator, begins his life story with his impressions of his early days as a “Furball,” or kitten, living in a barred enclosure in what is evidently an adoption shelter. He remembers little of his mother and siblings and nothing of his father, but is haunted by memories of the sterile smell and the mysterious disappearances of several friends, who later returned but “never had natural inclinations again.” Such a fate never befalls Leo, however, and his narrative contains sex scenes explicit enough to warrant the note that this is a story for adults. Cats are “Furs” and people are “E-Yeows” in the language of Leo’s world, and much of the tale revolves around his attempts to balance his independent nature with the convenience of being regularly fed (even with inferior, lifeless food) and stroked (even if seldom in a really satisfying manner). In the course of his journey to maturity, he discovers friends, enemies, and lovers among the Furs he encounters while also learning to avoid and torment the obnoxious, raucous “Wolfers” who E-Yeows seem to like so much. Moye succeeds in endowing Leo with the roguish swagger of a film noir detective, and it is pleasurable to watch him find his purr. It is unfortunate that he so often voices gratuitous sexism and machismo, such as Leo’s complaint that names like “Fluffy” and “Twinkle” are emasculating and his description of a female Fur as “voluptuous.” Indeed, one might wish that the picaresque narrative were longer, so that the details of Fur psyche, society, and worldview might have been more thoroughly developed, distinct from those of humans. The Fur language is both funny and inspired—most of the words are some form of “Meow.”
An entertaining, if limited, peek into the psyche of a cat torn between freedom and domestication.Pub Date: May 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4808-4541-1
Page Count: 110
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Not as thematically ambitious as Whitehead’s earlier work, but a whole lot of fun to read.
Another surprise from an author who never writes the same novel twice.
Though Whitehead has earned considerable critical acclaim for his earlier work—in particular his debut (The Intuitionist, 1999) and its successor (John Henry Days, 2001)—he’ll likely reach a wider readership with his warmest novel to date. Funniest as well, though there have been flashes of humor throughout his writing. The author blurs the line between fiction and memoir as he recounts the coming-of-age summer of 15-year-old Benji Cooper in the family’s summer retreat of New York’s Sag Harbor. “According to the world, we were the definition of paradox: black boys with beach houses,” writes Whitehead. Caucasians are only an occasional curiosity within this idyll, and parents are mostly absent as well. Each chapter is pretty much a self-contained entity, corresponding to a rite of passage: getting the first job, negotiating the mysteries of the opposite sex. There’s an accident with a BB gun and plenty of episodes of convincing someone older to buy beer, but not much really happens during this particular summer. Yet by the end of it, Benji is well on his way to becoming Ben, and he realizes that he is a different person than when the summer started. He also realizes that this time in his life will eventually live only in memory. There might be some distinctions between Benji and Whitehead, though the novelist also spent his youthful summers in Sag Harbor and was the same age as Benji in 1985, when the novel is set. Yet the first-person narrator has the novelist’s eye for detail, craft of character development and analytical instincts for sharp social commentary.
Not as thematically ambitious as Whitehead’s earlier work, but a whole lot of fun to read.Pub Date: April 28, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-385-52765-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2009
BOOK TO SCREEN
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
