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Big Scratch: A Manx McCatty Adventure
In this parody of hard-boiled detective mysteries, feline private eye Manx McCatty's efforts to clean up the San Francisco waterfront include numerous confrontations with low-life hoods, stoolies, extortionists, and Gato Nostro kingpin Tabby Tonelli
Mass Market Paperback
First published October 12, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 10, 2017
Okay. This book and I have a story.
When I was young, I was obsessed with this book. I came about it in a geocache (back when finding geocaches in the woods was a thing), and the idea was that I was supposed to read the book and then pass it on. But I read the book, and then read it again, and then read it about a dozen more times, and by that then I decided I wasn't going to pass it along--I was going to keep it forever.
Of course, I was just a kid, so I didn't understand that the story was supposed to be a parody. I hadn't read all that many (or rather, any) hard-boiled detective stories; I just thought it was a cool book about talking cats. I loved it so much I even tried to write my own version, which featured way too many references to Nancy Drew: Danger on Deception Island, a computer game I was also obsessed with at the time. My story was dated February 2004, which would have made me almost eight and a half.
After a while my obsession with the book faded, and it sat on my bookshelf for many years before I finally packed it away and put it in the attic. Then, the other day, I was talking to someone about geocaching, and I remembered it. I couldn't recall the title, and Google search didn't turn up any results, so today I ventured up to my attic and found it, packed in a box with Nancy Drew books (ironic).
It took me only an hour or so to reread and I have to say I still enjoyed it. I laughed out loud at some points where the parody was obvious, which I'd missed as a child. It was silly in all its seriousness. I'm glad that I found it again, a relic from my story- and cat-obsessed childhood.
My eight year-old self would hate me if I didn't give it 5 stars.
When I was young, I was obsessed with this book. I came about it in a geocache (back when finding geocaches in the woods was a thing), and the idea was that I was supposed to read the book and then pass it on. But I read the book, and then read it again, and then read it about a dozen more times, and by that then I decided I wasn't going to pass it along--I was going to keep it forever.
Of course, I was just a kid, so I didn't understand that the story was supposed to be a parody. I hadn't read all that many (or rather, any) hard-boiled detective stories; I just thought it was a cool book about talking cats. I loved it so much I even tried to write my own version, which featured way too many references to Nancy Drew: Danger on Deception Island, a computer game I was also obsessed with at the time. My story was dated February 2004, which would have made me almost eight and a half.
After a while my obsession with the book faded, and it sat on my bookshelf for many years before I finally packed it away and put it in the attic. Then, the other day, I was talking to someone about geocaching, and I remembered it. I couldn't recall the title, and Google search didn't turn up any results, so today I ventured up to my attic and found it, packed in a box with Nancy Drew books (ironic).
It took me only an hour or so to reread and I have to say I still enjoyed it. I laughed out loud at some points where the parody was obvious, which I'd missed as a child. It was silly in all its seriousness. I'm glad that I found it again, a relic from my story- and cat-obsessed childhood.
My eight year-old self would hate me if I didn't give it 5 stars.
February 22, 2019
A fun, light pastiche of hardboiled detective stories, with a cynical Manx cat playing the Sam Spade role among the tough-talking tabbies, salty seacats, and ooh-la-la Persians of a California seaport. Remains fun to the end partly because, unlike Akif Pirincci's Felidae which has a similar premise, it doesn't become overly concerned with Big Issues. Manx McCatty deals with the problems brought to his doorstep, and leaves the pretensions to others. He's got a job to do, and the problems of three little cats don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews