Review: Kitty Cornered by Bob Tarte
If you love cats, you’re going to not only love this book, you’ll probably recognize yourself in at least parts of it. Kitty Cornered: how Frannie and five other Incorrigible Cats Seized control of Our house and Made It Their home is Bob Tarte’s account of the challenges of a household run by cats. The book chronicles Tarte’s journey from being a one-cat household to ending up with six cats, one of them a hard to manage stray named Frannie.
Tarte writes with an often self-deprecating humor that will make you smile, although it often made me wince a little, too. He portrays himself as a somewhat troubled soul who finds day to day living quite demanding. despite this, or maybe because of it, I took pleasure in the book. This is the story of someone who does not give up on a cat because she presents some challenges. Whether it’s rearranging the house to accommodate feline feuds, sitting up at night worrying about a sick cat, or trying to win over a recalcitrant stray – you can’t help but love Bob Tarte.
For me, the best part of the book was the story of Frannie, a nervous black-and-white stray who wins Tarte’s heart a little bit a lot more than the others. I loved enjoying the relationship between Tarte and Frannie develop as the stray cat slowly learns to trust.
By the time I got to the end of this book, I felt like I had just had an extended visit with Tarte and his colorful household of not only six cats, but also parrots, ducks and other assorted critters. and just like a visit with good friends, I was a little sad that I had to leave.
Bob Tarte wrote for The beat magazine for twenty years. He has also written for the new York Times, the Boston Globe, the Miami new Times, the whole earth Review, and other publications. He hosts the What Were You Thinking? podcast for petliferadio.com. He and his wife Linda live in Lowell, Michigan, and currently serve the whims of parrots, ducks, geese, parakeets, a rabbit, doves, hens, one turkey, and way too lots of cats. For a lot more information, and pictures of the cats featured in the book, visit BobTarte.com.
I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher. receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.
Ingrid King
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2 comments on Review: Kitty Cornered by Bob Tarte
Jeanne says:
November 26, 2012 at 7:12 am
hi, Ingrid! glad you examined Kitty Cornered. I examined it for our library website. I absolutely loved it and have gotten at least eight copies to give to people. I consider it a “safe” book because no cats die, but it’s also so well written, funny and respectful of cat ways. I really like Bob’s sense of humor, too. I laughed a lot more at this book than I have at a book in a long time because he captures catness so well… and human reactions to it. like Bob, I spend a lot of tine trying to thwart my cats from behaviors that I think aren’t good, and also like Bob I end up looking foolish as the cats out maneuver me. (Books with cats tend to be examined often at the library’s website– what are the odds?)
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Caren Gittleman says:
November 16, 2012 at 9:36 am
Hi Ingrid! loved your review!!! As you know considering that I examined this amazing book as well I just ADORED it!! people need to add this to their kitty collection!
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