American humorist best known for his long-running column of political satire and commentary that he wrote in The Washington Post, which was syndicated in over 500 newspapers. He wrote more than 30 books. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Outstanding Commentary in 1982. In 1991 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
An interesting relic that reads strongly of satire from the first page to the very last.
In this book the author explores the mad idea of fame, the absurdity it takes to keep it under exclusive control and the means to which those in charge of it will embrace to do everything they can to keep their own worlds going as they have based their whole lives *coughs* I mean success on it.
The actual story itself wasn't bad but it wasn't also really that good. First you are given a flat introduction into some of the main characters but they haven't been fleshed out enough to relate to. And in a sense these characters were a reminder to me of some of the older characters found in past sitcoms where they may have been comic relief but alas there was no comedy to be found in them. Just like nondescript Irving.
The mystery of the story isn't much of a mystery. Cat disappears, the reader is given only one possible suspect and Inspector Alain is a stuffy detective who really does nothing but get rich wooing the only main female in the book. Fortunately there is a bit of a nice twist in the end.
Otherwise unless you enjoy old satire or just need a quick yet rather decent read than I can't really recommend this book, even for the family.
Un libro simpático sobre un gato estrella de anuncios de televisión y su manager, un publicista de una famosa comida gatuna, que tiene un día espantoso al descubrir que 1. La dueña del gato Irving a caído en el hospital; 2. Irving a desaparecido y es importantísimo para un anuncio que toda Norteamérica espera ver en el superbowl de lo cual depende su trabajo; 3. Darse cuenta de que no se ha perdido sino que ha sido secuestrado y piden millones por él ¿Qué hacer? Tal vez un detective francés, especialista en rescate de mascotas, tenga la respuesta...
Impuls untuk berburu dan baca buku ini mulanya karena si penerjemah, H.Mahbub Djunaidi, yang terkenal tulisan-tulisannya konon asik dan tak kaku dibaca. Dan benar saja, kata "sampeyan", kata "sompret", dan kata-kata lainnya yang agak nyeleneh masuk dalam khazanah kata di buku ini. Dari kata-kata hasil terjemahan itu pula, bangunan suasana novel ini menjadi sangat hidup, dan tak jarang mengundang tawa. Top.
Pernahkah kamu membaca ulang buku setelah jeda waktu yang lama dan mendapat kesan yang berbeda?
Dari penampilannya, Irving tampak biasa-biasa saja, kau tidak akan menengoknya dua kali bila berpapasan dengannya. Warna bulunya hitam dengan belang putih di wajah dan kakinya. Tapi ia merupakan seorang (seekor!) bintang kesayangan seluruh Amerika Serikat!
Irving menyebabkan kehebohan di momen audisi yang diadakan oleh Pussyfoot, sebuah perusahaan makanan kucing yang sedang mencari model untuk iklan terbaru mereka. Saat Irving naik ke panggung, McGruder sang kepala bagian iklan perusahaan bahkan tidak menengok kepadanya, sampai salah seorang kru memekik, "busyet, busyet!" Ternyata Irving menyuap makanan dengan cakarnya!
Irving menjadi bintang dan Pussyfoot menjadi produk makanan kucing nomor satu di AS. Sampai saat Nona Summersby, pemilik Irving, jatuh sakit, dan Irving diculik tak ketahuan rimbanya.
Sudah lama sekali sejak aku pertama kali membaca buku ini (dicekoki oleh ayahku tentunya), tapi aku tidak merasakan kesan apapun dulu itu. Baru kemarin buku ini tampak olehku di lemari buku ayah dan aku tergoda untuk membacanya lagi. Kali ini, baru kurasakan betapa lucu dan menghiburnya kisah si Irving, apalagi dengan gaya terjemahan H. Mahbub Junaidi yang jenaka. Kisah Irving berakhir bahagia, terbalik denganku yang sebal karena halaman terakhir bukunya ternyata hilang...
the title and the current cover (back then when i read this the cover is not as funny as today's) might deceive you, including the story itself.
Irving is the name of the cat, which is also the main character of this story, besides (i forgot his name -lets say Michael) Michael -the tv show director who found Irving's uniqueness while he was looking for a cat to advertise new brand of cat food.
The conflict gets intense when Irving suddenly disappeared. The whole world panick. Everyone is looking for him everywhere, including Michael, for sure.
Written by Art Buchwald, a famous british columnist, this book shows how a phenomenon of a cat who can eat using his claws could change the whole world. Well, literally.
Buku ini menceritakan si "Irving" kucing yang menjadi bintang iklan perusahaan makanan kucing, keunikan kucing ini terletak pada cakarnya, yaitu dapat menyuapkan makanan memakai cakarnya, hingga membuat makanan yg diiklankan tsb laku keras. Diceritakan sangat menarik dengan gaya satire dan humoris .
This is a fun story, although I'm not so sure that it's for the whole family. It's not that there's adult content, but that the prose is written for adults and our girls only found it mildly interesting. The story is dated (the restaurant prices are laughable and the technology is ancient), but the story is an interesting one and it's a quick read.
This was a light easy easy read. It was kinda stupid, but was also fun. Irving is the only cat in the world that eats cat food with his paw, and become a commercial success. When Irving's owner goes to the hospital Irving goes missing. A French pet detective is hired to find him.
So far it is pretty interesting but I little too wordy for it's reasonably basic plot. Once I am done, my opinion might change but for now it is only so-so.
I think I enjoy this book a lot mostly because I have a beloved cat at home, and reading a story about cats that's written with a really good humor brings me such pleasure.