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My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me
The #1 bestselling author of The Alienist, Caleb Carr , tells the extraordinary story of Masha, a half-wild rescue cat who fought off a bear, tackled Caleb like a linebacker—and bonded with him as tightly as any cat and human possibly can.
Caleb Carr has had special relationships with cats since he was a young boy in a turbulent household, famously peopled by the founding members of the Beat Generation, where his steadiest companions were the adopted cats that lived with him both in the city and the country. As an adult, he has had many close feline companions, with relationships that have outlasted most of his human ones. But only after building a three-story home in rural, upstate New York did he enter into the most extraordinary of all of his cat Masha, a Siberian Forest cat who had been abandoned as a kitten, and was languishing in a shelter when Caleb met her. She had hissed and fought off all previous carers and potential adopters, but somehow, she chose Caleb as her savior.
For the seventeen years that followed, Caleb and Masha were inseparable. Masha ruled the house and the extensive, dangerous surrounding fields and forests. When she was hurt, only Caleb could help her. When he suffered long-standing physical ailments, Masha knew what to do. Caleb’s life-long study of the literature of cat behavior, and his years of experience with previous cats, helped him decode much of Masha’s inner life. But their bond went far beyond academic studies and experience. The story of Caleb and Masha is an inspiring and life-affirming relationship for readers of all backgrounds and interests—a love story like no other.
Caleb Carr has had special relationships with cats since he was a young boy in a turbulent household, famously peopled by the founding members of the Beat Generation, where his steadiest companions were the adopted cats that lived with him both in the city and the country. As an adult, he has had many close feline companions, with relationships that have outlasted most of his human ones. But only after building a three-story home in rural, upstate New York did he enter into the most extraordinary of all of his cat Masha, a Siberian Forest cat who had been abandoned as a kitten, and was languishing in a shelter when Caleb met her. She had hissed and fought off all previous carers and potential adopters, but somehow, she chose Caleb as her savior.
For the seventeen years that followed, Caleb and Masha were inseparable. Masha ruled the house and the extensive, dangerous surrounding fields and forests. When she was hurt, only Caleb could help her. When he suffered long-standing physical ailments, Masha knew what to do. Caleb’s life-long study of the literature of cat behavior, and his years of experience with previous cats, helped him decode much of Masha’s inner life. But their bond went far beyond academic studies and experience. The story of Caleb and Masha is an inspiring and life-affirming relationship for readers of all backgrounds and interests—a love story like no other.
344 pages, Hardcover
First published April 16, 2024
934 people are currently reading
7920 people want to read
About the author
Caleb Carr
42 books3,557 followersCaleb Carr was an American novelist and military historian. The son of Lucien Carr, a former UPI editor and a key Beat generation figure, he was born in Manhattan and lived for much of his life on the Lower East Side. He attended Kenyon College and New York University, earning a B.A. in military and diplomatic history. He was a contributing editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History and wrote frequently on military and political affairs.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 594 reviews
April 29, 2024
I reviewed this memoir earlier this month for the Washington Post. It's fantastic: curmudgeon novelist Caleb Carr is actually a wonderful softie at heart. . .at least when it comes to Masha, the cat he rescued from a shelter in Vermont and with whom he would live for over a decade and a half in upstate New York. It was just the two of them, and this memoir chronicles their love for each other and how much they needed each other as they battled bears and age and, alas, cancer. Be prepared for all the feels in this beautiful chronicle of how much we, humans, need our companion animals.
May 29, 2024
NOTE: I'm very sad to see that Caleb Carr has passed away. The picture I saw of him in the obit was with his cat, Masha. Although he and I don't necessarily agree on the best ways to be a companion to a feline (as you can see from my review) what is very clear is that we both loved cats. I wish he had seen his book out in the world.
Review:
This is a difficult one to rate. It's not often you find a book all about cat(s) from a literary writer so I was quite interested to get this ARC, and thank you for the approval. I have not read any of Caleb Carr's other novels, however, I do know his name from The Alienest, which was a bestseller. It was a big enough seller that Carr was able to build an enormous house in the wilds of upstate New York with his royalties. Good for him. (Does this happen anymore? Maybe to Colleen Hoover.)
Carr, who grew up in a chaotic, alcoholic household with an abusive father and a neglectful mother (the pair were an integral part of the "Beat Generation" and Carr was privy to all their drunken, violent, and emotionally explosive shenanigans). As a result, he grew to bond deeply with the cats of his household (his parents sound like crap parents but liked animals). However, as they were all indoor-outdoor cats, the vast majority of them eventually disappeared on their nightly rovings, as tends to happen with indoor-outdoor cats (I know, I grew up with them too).
Carr's history with cats was beautifully delineated, and I can't think of many other books that so well describe the powerful hold that a beloved cat can have over you. And how Carr learned that his cats were the only creatures who would love him unconditionally. Not surprisingly, Carr grows up to be a rather reclusive man who has lots of professional success, but simply doesn't have the capacity for a long-term relationship, and is determined to not have children so he doesn't inadvertently pass down the abuse he himself suffered as a child.
If he were a woman, he'd be called a "crazy cat lady," But he's a man so he gets a big book deal writing about his love of cats. But that's another story.
The problem for me comes in with Carr, much as he loves his cats, refusing to do the most responsible, loving thing he can do for a cat, which is keep it inside. Despite all his childhood cats dying outside, despite the cat he has right before Masha being eaten alive outside by some predator, he goes to a shelter, adopts a cat, and immediately lets her outside. (Shame on the Vermont shelter who not adopted to Carr but didn't even interview him!)
Carr waxes on about cats as if he knows alllll about them, but much of his waxing is wrong and even laughable. He clings tightly to the notion that his cat Masha is "wild" and also gets it into his head that she is a purebred Siberian, even though the cover shows a very ordinary domestic long-haired cat. I've been rescuing cats from the outdoors for 30 years and all of them are perfectly happy inside. Perhaps it is different in the countryside but even so once your cat gets eaten, you'd think you'd learn your lesson with the next one, and keep it inside.
Carr drip feeds the reader info about how much he allows the cat out- at first telling us it is just the perimeter of house, and only when he is with her. Then we learn she is hanging by a stream where predators drink and his last cat died. Then we learn the cat is seen by his brother at the very edge of his 11-acre property. Finally, Masha is getting stuck up trees and BITTEN BY BEARS.
Yes, he has to rush his cat to the vet after she is nearly eaten by a bear. (The vet very oddly seems to think this is hilarious. Not a vet I would recommend.)
Carr's solution to Masha's near-demise in the worst way imaginable is to keep her inside for a "couple of days."
At this point, I did not wish to read what was going to be the eventual painful and horrific demise of Masha, so I DNF'd.
Caleb, please do not get any more cats.
Three stars for the writing only. One star for Carr not having any common sense.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Good luck, Masha.
Review:
This is a difficult one to rate. It's not often you find a book all about cat(s) from a literary writer so I was quite interested to get this ARC, and thank you for the approval. I have not read any of Caleb Carr's other novels, however, I do know his name from The Alienest, which was a bestseller. It was a big enough seller that Carr was able to build an enormous house in the wilds of upstate New York with his royalties. Good for him. (Does this happen anymore? Maybe to Colleen Hoover.)
Carr, who grew up in a chaotic, alcoholic household with an abusive father and a neglectful mother (the pair were an integral part of the "Beat Generation" and Carr was privy to all their drunken, violent, and emotionally explosive shenanigans). As a result, he grew to bond deeply with the cats of his household (his parents sound like crap parents but liked animals). However, as they were all indoor-outdoor cats, the vast majority of them eventually disappeared on their nightly rovings, as tends to happen with indoor-outdoor cats (I know, I grew up with them too).
Carr's history with cats was beautifully delineated, and I can't think of many other books that so well describe the powerful hold that a beloved cat can have over you. And how Carr learned that his cats were the only creatures who would love him unconditionally. Not surprisingly, Carr grows up to be a rather reclusive man who has lots of professional success, but simply doesn't have the capacity for a long-term relationship, and is determined to not have children so he doesn't inadvertently pass down the abuse he himself suffered as a child.
If he were a woman, he'd be called a "crazy cat lady," But he's a man so he gets a big book deal writing about his love of cats. But that's another story.
The problem for me comes in with Carr, much as he loves his cats, refusing to do the most responsible, loving thing he can do for a cat, which is keep it inside. Despite all his childhood cats dying outside, despite the cat he has right before Masha being eaten alive outside by some predator, he goes to a shelter, adopts a cat, and immediately lets her outside. (Shame on the Vermont shelter who not adopted to Carr but didn't even interview him!)
Carr waxes on about cats as if he knows alllll about them, but much of his waxing is wrong and even laughable. He clings tightly to the notion that his cat Masha is "wild" and also gets it into his head that she is a purebred Siberian, even though the cover shows a very ordinary domestic long-haired cat. I've been rescuing cats from the outdoors for 30 years and all of them are perfectly happy inside. Perhaps it is different in the countryside but even so once your cat gets eaten, you'd think you'd learn your lesson with the next one, and keep it inside.
Carr drip feeds the reader info about how much he allows the cat out- at first telling us it is just the perimeter of house, and only when he is with her. Then we learn she is hanging by a stream where predators drink and his last cat died. Then we learn the cat is seen by his brother at the very edge of his 11-acre property. Finally, Masha is getting stuck up trees and BITTEN BY BEARS.
Yes, he has to rush his cat to the vet after she is nearly eaten by a bear. (The vet very oddly seems to think this is hilarious. Not a vet I would recommend.)
Carr's solution to Masha's near-demise in the worst way imaginable is to keep her inside for a "couple of days."
At this point, I did not wish to read what was going to be the eventual painful and horrific demise of Masha, so I DNF'd.
Caleb, please do not get any more cats.
Three stars for the writing only. One star for Carr not having any common sense.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Good luck, Masha.
Read
June 20, 2024I'm going to gush. I adored this book. It is everything a memoir needs to be and more. To say it's about the author's 18-year relationship with a Siberian forest cat comes nowhere near describing the delights that this story holds for the reader. For anyone who thinks they know cats and what cats are all about, you probably don't. The author has lived with cats since his earliest childhood--a childhood scarred by alcoholism and violence--and his ability to explain not only a cat's body but a cat's mind is incredible and possibly unmatched. The cat in question is Masha, who serves as companion, protector, soulmate, and spirit familiar in the life of the author. She is a force to be reckoned with, a survivor of abuse and abandonment, who chooses the author as her rescuer. Indeed, no one else will take her on, so uncontrollably wild does she appear to be. But the author gets to the root cause of her wild nature and instead of trying to tame her, he honors it and her, and he becomes our instructor as he leads us through the story of his relationship with this magnificent animal. I like virtually all animals, but I'm mostly a dog person. However, this book makes it crystal clear that when a cat accepts you into his or her life, you will be richer for the experience. Read this book and you will never ever say "It's only a cat" again. Believe me. Bravo, Mr. Caleb Carr.
August 16, 2024
Thank you, @littlebrown, for the gifted book. The book came with cat toy mice (the best kind, with the rattles inside). My cats love them. 😻 Also, I purchased the audio copy for a read/listen. The narrator is James Lurie, and he does a remarkable job with endearing me to the author, Caleb Carr.
There aren’t enough books of this type where the human loves a cat just as much as I love my own. If there is one thing I know without a doubt it is that Caleb Carr adored Masha, and she adored him.
Caleb Carr grew up much like I did, with pets in his household. He was especially drawn to the cats. In many ways, they were his respite and connection in a difficult childhood. They were the constant and offered unconditional love. In My Beloved Monster, he shares that background, as well as the story of how he came to rescue Masha, a Siberian Forest cat. They lived together for seventeen years. Not long enough; it never is, but very much companions for each other.
I could relate to Masha’s wildness, and Caleb’s commitment to allowing her some freedom because I unwittingly adopted an exotic cat (he was listed as “tabby” at the shelter, and was, at the time, hairless due to a flea allergy). While I would not ever choose to let my boy, or any of my cats, outside ever, I have thought about it for that particular one because he can’t seem to get enough stimulation and exercise due to his breed. Masha is an indoor/outdoor cat, and she has run-ins with predators, as a result. Some are quite harrowing. Caleb loves Masha so much, he feels like he can’t keep her inside, and whenever he tries it, they are ultimately both miserable. So, it’s a balancing act of keeping her safe and also happy.
I also want to mention the author’s traumatic childhood and serious health issues, many as a result of the abuse, and how Masha seemed to reciprocally care for him while also giving him an outlet and distraction from all he had going on. Between hospital and doctor visits, he was understandably extremely worried about Masha’s care while he was away.
Technically, the writing blew me away. Caleb Carr was an extremely talented and skilled author. The entire time while reading, I was marveling at either the writing, Masha, or Caleb’s immense love for her.
Thinking I know a good bit about cats, I learned many new things from Caleb about their behavior. He’s well-read in the research and shares it all in a fascinating way with how it pertains to Masha. With this being a book about a beloved animal, there is loss, and it gave me a giant cry. Masha was an absolute force and in the time I spent with her and Caleb, I truly came to care for them both. As I said earlier, it’s far too rare to know someone who feels so deeply for animals, but Caleb Carr absolutely does, and I’m so grateful I read Masha’s story.
ETA: I learned minutes after publishing this review that sadly Caleb Carr passed away just weeks after the publication of the book. I hope he and Masha are together again.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
There aren’t enough books of this type where the human loves a cat just as much as I love my own. If there is one thing I know without a doubt it is that Caleb Carr adored Masha, and she adored him.
Caleb Carr grew up much like I did, with pets in his household. He was especially drawn to the cats. In many ways, they were his respite and connection in a difficult childhood. They were the constant and offered unconditional love. In My Beloved Monster, he shares that background, as well as the story of how he came to rescue Masha, a Siberian Forest cat. They lived together for seventeen years. Not long enough; it never is, but very much companions for each other.
I could relate to Masha’s wildness, and Caleb’s commitment to allowing her some freedom because I unwittingly adopted an exotic cat (he was listed as “tabby” at the shelter, and was, at the time, hairless due to a flea allergy). While I would not ever choose to let my boy, or any of my cats, outside ever, I have thought about it for that particular one because he can’t seem to get enough stimulation and exercise due to his breed. Masha is an indoor/outdoor cat, and she has run-ins with predators, as a result. Some are quite harrowing. Caleb loves Masha so much, he feels like he can’t keep her inside, and whenever he tries it, they are ultimately both miserable. So, it’s a balancing act of keeping her safe and also happy.
I also want to mention the author’s traumatic childhood and serious health issues, many as a result of the abuse, and how Masha seemed to reciprocally care for him while also giving him an outlet and distraction from all he had going on. Between hospital and doctor visits, he was understandably extremely worried about Masha’s care while he was away.
Technically, the writing blew me away. Caleb Carr was an extremely talented and skilled author. The entire time while reading, I was marveling at either the writing, Masha, or Caleb’s immense love for her.
Thinking I know a good bit about cats, I learned many new things from Caleb about their behavior. He’s well-read in the research and shares it all in a fascinating way with how it pertains to Masha. With this being a book about a beloved animal, there is loss, and it gave me a giant cry. Masha was an absolute force and in the time I spent with her and Caleb, I truly came to care for them both. As I said earlier, it’s far too rare to know someone who feels so deeply for animals, but Caleb Carr absolutely does, and I’m so grateful I read Masha’s story.
ETA: I learned minutes after publishing this review that sadly Caleb Carr passed away just weeks after the publication of the book. I hope he and Masha are together again.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
April 18, 2024
Wow! I thought this was an amazing story! I got the audiobook on Tuesday and couldn't put it down! I never review books, but this was one of the best memoirs I've read in a long time. I started listening because I love cats and I heard the author on NPR, but I really think the story would resonate with anyone!
Per the comments about the cat going outside, I think you should give the book another shot beyond the prelude, it was really incredible, especially if you like cats. And the author is not suggesting that all cats should be allowed outside, just that his should, and I think given his specific circumstance he is correct (although I would never let my cat out). If you're put off by that and don't read it, I think you'll be missing out.
Per the comments about the cat going outside, I think you should give the book another shot beyond the prelude, it was really incredible, especially if you like cats. And the author is not suggesting that all cats should be allowed outside, just that his should, and I think given his specific circumstance he is correct (although I would never let my cat out). If you're put off by that and don't read it, I think you'll be missing out.
December 29, 2024
A lovely little memoir of a close and profoundly emotional inter-species relationship - the author and his Siberian forest cat. Sharing their lives for 17 years, Carr seems to have invested much of his emotional life into in the relationship, finding sympathy, connection, empathy and communion. He shares some of his own interesting story and career along the way (before and after the time he shared with the monster cat Masha). If not a cat or an animal lover, it might be hard for a reader to make it through 350 pages, but it's truly heartfelt, sincere, and engaging, from a good writer who knew his craft.
3 1/2 stars
3 1/2 stars
July 23, 2024
I am so NOT a cat person. Team Dog all the way for me. Never had a cat, never wanted one, but this was written by Caleb Carr, author of The Alienist, a book I loved. I got this from the library to see what it was all about, started reading, and got so invested in the story I had to go on.
A simple premise at first glance. Carr went to an animal shelter to adopt a cat, came home with Masha, a Siberian Cat, and they were together for 17 years. But of course, there's more to that story. Masha had been rescued half starving and wild with panic after being left in an empty apartment with no food or water or way of escape for days. We learn through the narrative that Carr himself had been horribly physically abused as a child by his father, with beatings, being kicked down flights of stairs, kicked and punched in the stomach, etc. His only solace for much of those years were pet cats that he grew very close to. You might say he and Masha were kindred spirits. Carr had become almost a recluse at his house in the Tetonic Mountains of northern New York, and this became Masha's home as well.
You don't have to be a cat lover to understand that these two had a most special relationship over their years together. This was a remarkably honest and moving book that will leave you in tears if you have any feelings at all for animals.
I still don't want a cat, and couldn't have handled Masha's wildness even if I even halfway understood their natures, but Carr's writing talents went a long way toward making me understand why he loved this one so much.
A simple premise at first glance. Carr went to an animal shelter to adopt a cat, came home with Masha, a Siberian Cat, and they were together for 17 years. But of course, there's more to that story. Masha had been rescued half starving and wild with panic after being left in an empty apartment with no food or water or way of escape for days. We learn through the narrative that Carr himself had been horribly physically abused as a child by his father, with beatings, being kicked down flights of stairs, kicked and punched in the stomach, etc. His only solace for much of those years were pet cats that he grew very close to. You might say he and Masha were kindred spirits. Carr had become almost a recluse at his house in the Tetonic Mountains of northern New York, and this became Masha's home as well.
You don't have to be a cat lover to understand that these two had a most special relationship over their years together. This was a remarkably honest and moving book that will leave you in tears if you have any feelings at all for animals.
I still don't want a cat, and couldn't have handled Masha's wildness even if I even halfway understood their natures, but Carr's writing talents went a long way toward making me understand why he loved this one so much.
August 13, 2024
I just finished this book and cried buckets. I cried even more than when I read John Green's book Fault in Our Stars. Caleb Carr loved this cat more than you can imagine. He loved his cat more than anyone has ever loved a cat to my knowledge. I know and have known many people besotted with their cats.
This would be 4 and 1/2 stars as had to take him down for making awful remarks about people in VT. He calls them Vermunsters and I resented this as my sister lived in VT for over ten years with husband who was from there and my nephew was born there. The people there were always nice to except for one that I can recall and he served me pizza but was bitter about losing his business. I think that he should have a bad name for New Yorkers as they tend to be far worse with no manners at all. However, I advise you to read this book anyway especially if you love cats. He is an amazing writer but it is sad book about the deaths of many cats and the suffering of cats as farmers tend to treat barn cats super bad. The cat he writes about in this book had been abused and you will read about it numerous times. Masha was an amazing kitty and I have known quite a few cats. The shelter people begged him to take Masha as she was a Siberian Forest Cat and could not bear to be locked up so she nearly died twice due to dangerous wild animals.
Caleb Carr believed a very strange thing about himself that he had been a cat and was reincarnated.
Thanks to Janine who recommended it. Thanks so much!
This would be 4 and 1/2 stars as had to take him down for making awful remarks about people in VT. He calls them Vermunsters and I resented this as my sister lived in VT for over ten years with husband who was from there and my nephew was born there. The people there were always nice to except for one that I can recall and he served me pizza but was bitter about losing his business. I think that he should have a bad name for New Yorkers as they tend to be far worse with no manners at all. However, I advise you to read this book anyway especially if you love cats. He is an amazing writer but it is sad book about the deaths of many cats and the suffering of cats as farmers tend to treat barn cats super bad. The cat he writes about in this book had been abused and you will read about it numerous times. Masha was an amazing kitty and I have known quite a few cats. The shelter people begged him to take Masha as she was a Siberian Forest Cat and could not bear to be locked up so she nearly died twice due to dangerous wild animals.
Caleb Carr believed a very strange thing about himself that he had been a cat and was reincarnated.
Thanks to Janine who recommended it. Thanks so much!
Read
February 16, 2024I just could not read anymore. He was just so irresponsible with his beloved cat's life.
May 18, 2024
Over the years I have enjoyed Caleb Carr’s historical fiction immensely. THE ALIENIST, THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS, and SURRENDER reflect his commitment to his craft integrating an accurate approach to history and exceptional character development. His latest book is a total change from what he has written previously. MY BELOVED MONSTER: MASHA, THE HALF-WILD RESCUE CAT WHO RESCUED ME maintains his superb writing and as far as character development it continues in his latest work, this time with a feline. Being a cat lover myself, having had deep relations with the feline species over the years, including KC who was with me and my family for over nineteen years, and our current duo of Kota and Shelby who we rescued over ten years ago, I greatly enjoyed Carr’s dual biography of Masha and Caleb. I have learned a great deal about Carr’s life and views on society, which makes his historical novels more interesting. But, from a cat person’s viewpoint I learned a great deal about felines through Masha’s life story, both about Masha and my own cats.
Carr’s recounting of his relationship with Masha is presented on a number of levels. First, it provides insights into how humans and felines bonded. I can relate to a great deal of what Carr recounts, but he adds a dimension I have never thought off – how a cat’s neurological, heredity, and species development impacts their choice of whom to bond with and try to manipulate. Second, if you are a cat person you realize early on that they control you, not the other way around. As Carr explains they are able to get you to do what they want easily, but once you gain their trust you can impact their behavior as opposed to controlling it. Third, Carr’s ability to decode much of Masha’s inner world.
In a sense Carr has written a love story that is like no other. He describes how each participant in the relationship projects their needs and how they are met. Carr and Masha had been together for seventeen years and most of the time they were inseparable. Masha is a Siberian Forest cat which presents its own issues that domesticated cats do not present. Carr adopted her after her previous owner locked her in an apartment. When they met, a cat’s intuition was on full display as somehow she knew that Carr was a perfect match, especially when she was taken home to a three story home in rural upstate New York. She would have the best of two worlds; outside where her instincts could be tested; and inside where she could control her environment and also her relationship with Carr.
Masha had to be special as she replaced Suki, Carr’s previous cat who he also had a strong relationship with. According to Carr cats are independent and are never responsive to punishment or negative reinforcement as forms of discipline and training. They do not need us, but rather make use of us. “Their loyalty depended on mutual respect and decent treatment.” Carr carefully relates how his own life, in part, paralleled that of Masha. At a very early age he drifted away from people and forged his closest bonds with cats. As a boy he believed he had been a cat in a previous life and wanted to return to that life. He grew up with an abusive father with two alcoholic parents who were somewhat violent. Carr feared his father would kill him and he evolved into a very angry person. He would turn to cats for compassion. Cats taught him how “to give and receive not simply a talent for survival but compassion, affection, love, and joy.” As the two of them bonded over the years Carr expressed surprise at their shared childhood traumas, shared physical ailments that included arthritis, neuropathy probably caused by the physical violence of their younger years. For Carr illness added a new intensity to his connection with Masha as he wondered if he would outlive his companion. When Carr was ill he returned to Masha who like many cats knew exactly how to care for her friend.
The number of astute observations Carr makes is astounding. Among the many that I can relate to are cats usually bond with just one human, not several, no matter how well socialized they might be – I have witnessed this firsthand as my wife Ronni and I share two cats, Kota and Shelby. Interestingly, Kota gravitates to me and would spend her entire day, sleeping, playing, and just keeping me company. Shelby is attached to Ronni and is content to stay on the right side of our bed where Ronni sleeps, and Kota dominates the left side with me – in fact, we had to buy a king size bed to accommodate all four of us! Many cat owners believe that cats stick around so long as food is available and that cats are aloof, at times, finicky. In fact, what they want is attention, interaction, and play – and if they do not receive it they can become lethargic and obese as food becomes their only option.
As Chris Bohjalian writes in his Washington Post review “what makes the book so moving is that it is not merely the saga of a great cat. Libraries are filled with books like that, some better than others. It’s the 17-year chronicle of Carr and Masha aging together, and the bond they forged in decline. (As Philip Roth observed, “Old age isn’t a battle; old age is a massacre.”) He chronicles their lives, beginning with the moment the animal shelter begs Carr to bring the young lioness home because the creature is so ferocious she unnerves the staff — “You have to take that cat!” one implores.”* Through the struggles that life presents all of us from illness, happiness, and sadness.
Trust is the key in any relationship and cats are no exception, but the trust level between Carr and Masha reaches an incredible level. Whether Carr is discussing his own health history or that of his feline companion their synergy amazes. How they support each other is nothing less than extremely unusual, but if you are a cat owner and have had an injury or an illness you have experienced the sensation of being cared for by your furry friend. I can speak to this from knee to hernia surgeries or my wife’s knee replacements – there is always a cat present to cheer one up, indirectly lessening one’s pain.
For all of Carr’s insights into Masha’s behavior there is one area I would question – her language skills. Carr goes a little overboard when discussing his verbal interactions with Masha, particularly the idea that she is sounding out words. I do believe cats do understand a series of words, but to go as far as a conversation between a human and a feline I have my doubts. In the end Carr has authored a marvelous book delving into his lifelong relationship with cats and focusing on Masha in particular. Carr has written a love story which can only bring a smile and tears to the reader.
*Chris Bohjalian. “Libraries are full of books about great cats. This one is special.” Washington Post , April 13, 2024.
To learn more about Caleb Carr and his latest book check out the following article from the Los Angeles Times:
‘Alienist’ author Caleb Carr — grieving his late cat — reflects on his life amid battle with cancer
Caleb Carr considered his late cat Masha, the subject of his new book, the love of his life.
By Chris Vognar
April 15, 2024 3 AM PT
My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me
By Caleb Carr
Little, Brown: 352 pages, $32
Caleb Carr visits the grave of his beloved Masha, whom he considers the love of his life, every day. “We have a little chat,” said Carr, best known for his 1994 crime novel “The Alienist,” during a video call from his home in upstate New York. It’s late at night — Carr is a longtime night owl who does most of his work after it gets dark — and the author, who now has a long white beard, is thinking about grief and dying — subjects that linger over his new nonfiction book, “My Beloved Monster,” and loom over what might be the final months of his life.
Masha, the beloved monster, was a Siberian forest cat whom Carr rescued from a shelter and built a life with in his mountainside home in Cherry Plain, N.Y. Animals, particularly cats, had long been a source of companionship and comfort for Carr, an antidote of sorts to a chaotic, abusive childhood in New York’s Lower East Side. As Carr writes in the new book, his father, the Beat poet, journalist and convicted manslaughterer Lucien Carr, had a habit of knocking his son down flights of stairs. “I began to understand that he was trying to kill me,” Carr writes. “And while I didn’t yet know about his past” — Lucien Carr stabbed David Kammerer to death in 1944, later claiming that Kammerer came on to him sexually and offering a “gay panic” defense — “I certainly recognized, from the horrifying and even gleeful expressions that would enter his face when he came after me, that he was capable of killing.”
“I have been living with the idea of death since I was a small kid because my father taught me about it,” he said. But death has become much more than an idea of late. Carr, 68, has cancer, which started in his prostate and has spread throughout his body.
“If I could be around when the book is published, that would be really nice,” he said in late January. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when, but it’s not going to be good. I always knew cancer moved fast, but boy, when it starts to move, it starts to eat you. Madness. Just madness.” “My Beloved Monster” will be released on Tuesday.
It was Masha’s death on April 5, 2022, and Carr’s subsequent despondence, that led him to write “My Beloved Monster,” which reads as a love story, a tribute and a reminder that, in some instances, the uncomplicated love of animals helps humans keep going.
A blond, long-haired beauty with a wild side who had been rescued from a cat hoarder, Masha initially greeted Carr, as he writes, with “one of the most communicative gazes I’d ever seen in a cat, a look facilitated by the structure of her face: the eyes were oriented fully forward, like a big cat’s rather than a domestic’s, and seemed to comprehend everything she was studying — especially me — only too well.” Carr writes about cats with a tender vividness that might make you see your own pets through new eyes.
As a child Carr lived in an environment where people couldn’t be trusted, with wild parties and everyday life descending into violence. He lived in a neighborhood so rife with drugs and prostitution that it provided the shooting location for the climax of Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver.” But he always had animals: dogs, gerbils, fish, rabbits and, most to the young Carr’s liking, cats. The family cats would join him in cowering from the domestic turmoil, and comfort him as he reeled from another beating. They seemed to understand him.
Carr would go on to a career as a military historian, journalist and novelist, reaching a wide audience with “The Alienist” (and its 1997 follow-up, “The Angel of Darkness”). The books put his darkness into words as he told the story of a late 19th century forensic psychiatrist on the trail of a serial killer. But he never really forgot his four-legged friends. When he met Masha, he quickly realized he had found a soulmate.
“Animals fulfill something that was damaged in all of us when we were very young and can’t be fixed by people,” Carr said. “We can go on to have relationships with people, but those wounds need a different kind of treatment than people can provide, and that causes trouble when you have to explain that very carefully to whatever girlfriend or whatever significant other you have. I never lasted as long with a woman as I did with Masha, God knows, and no woman ever did for me what she did, which sounds crazy even to me. But it’s really true.”
Carr was actually contracted to write another “Alienist” book, but the spirit did not move him. He was deep in grief and needed to get it onto the page. He began cranking out the story of his life with Masha and sent a draft to his editor, Bruce Nichols, who was also the publisher of Little, Brown before he stepped down in March. Nichols was on board with Carr’s change in direction from serial killing to cat love.
“It was clearly a passion project for him, not only because of his medical situation but because he spent his whole life with cats and this one was very special to him,” Nichols said. “If you’re a cat lover and owner, or a dog person, I think it will resonate with you. And I don’t think it matters whether you care about historical fiction or military history or any of Caleb’s past experiences. It’s sui generis. It is what it is, and it’s an amazing book.”
Carr certainly hopes to tap into the pet community (and perhaps see if any “Alienist” fans are Catster subscribers). He also hopes to win over skeptics who might doubt whether one can love and grieve a beloved animal with the intensity usually reserved for another human.
“I’m hoping that some people will learn from this, and maybe even catch themselves almost thinking of Masha as a person,” Carr said. “That’s really what we have to do as a society much more: Think of these animals as our equals. That’s what they are.”
Carr’s recounting of his relationship with Masha is presented on a number of levels. First, it provides insights into how humans and felines bonded. I can relate to a great deal of what Carr recounts, but he adds a dimension I have never thought off – how a cat’s neurological, heredity, and species development impacts their choice of whom to bond with and try to manipulate. Second, if you are a cat person you realize early on that they control you, not the other way around. As Carr explains they are able to get you to do what they want easily, but once you gain their trust you can impact their behavior as opposed to controlling it. Third, Carr’s ability to decode much of Masha’s inner world.
In a sense Carr has written a love story that is like no other. He describes how each participant in the relationship projects their needs and how they are met. Carr and Masha had been together for seventeen years and most of the time they were inseparable. Masha is a Siberian Forest cat which presents its own issues that domesticated cats do not present. Carr adopted her after her previous owner locked her in an apartment. When they met, a cat’s intuition was on full display as somehow she knew that Carr was a perfect match, especially when she was taken home to a three story home in rural upstate New York. She would have the best of two worlds; outside where her instincts could be tested; and inside where she could control her environment and also her relationship with Carr.
Masha had to be special as she replaced Suki, Carr’s previous cat who he also had a strong relationship with. According to Carr cats are independent and are never responsive to punishment or negative reinforcement as forms of discipline and training. They do not need us, but rather make use of us. “Their loyalty depended on mutual respect and decent treatment.” Carr carefully relates how his own life, in part, paralleled that of Masha. At a very early age he drifted away from people and forged his closest bonds with cats. As a boy he believed he had been a cat in a previous life and wanted to return to that life. He grew up with an abusive father with two alcoholic parents who were somewhat violent. Carr feared his father would kill him and he evolved into a very angry person. He would turn to cats for compassion. Cats taught him how “to give and receive not simply a talent for survival but compassion, affection, love, and joy.” As the two of them bonded over the years Carr expressed surprise at their shared childhood traumas, shared physical ailments that included arthritis, neuropathy probably caused by the physical violence of their younger years. For Carr illness added a new intensity to his connection with Masha as he wondered if he would outlive his companion. When Carr was ill he returned to Masha who like many cats knew exactly how to care for her friend.
The number of astute observations Carr makes is astounding. Among the many that I can relate to are cats usually bond with just one human, not several, no matter how well socialized they might be – I have witnessed this firsthand as my wife Ronni and I share two cats, Kota and Shelby. Interestingly, Kota gravitates to me and would spend her entire day, sleeping, playing, and just keeping me company. Shelby is attached to Ronni and is content to stay on the right side of our bed where Ronni sleeps, and Kota dominates the left side with me – in fact, we had to buy a king size bed to accommodate all four of us! Many cat owners believe that cats stick around so long as food is available and that cats are aloof, at times, finicky. In fact, what they want is attention, interaction, and play – and if they do not receive it they can become lethargic and obese as food becomes their only option.
As Chris Bohjalian writes in his Washington Post review “what makes the book so moving is that it is not merely the saga of a great cat. Libraries are filled with books like that, some better than others. It’s the 17-year chronicle of Carr and Masha aging together, and the bond they forged in decline. (As Philip Roth observed, “Old age isn’t a battle; old age is a massacre.”) He chronicles their lives, beginning with the moment the animal shelter begs Carr to bring the young lioness home because the creature is so ferocious she unnerves the staff — “You have to take that cat!” one implores.”* Through the struggles that life presents all of us from illness, happiness, and sadness.
Trust is the key in any relationship and cats are no exception, but the trust level between Carr and Masha reaches an incredible level. Whether Carr is discussing his own health history or that of his feline companion their synergy amazes. How they support each other is nothing less than extremely unusual, but if you are a cat owner and have had an injury or an illness you have experienced the sensation of being cared for by your furry friend. I can speak to this from knee to hernia surgeries or my wife’s knee replacements – there is always a cat present to cheer one up, indirectly lessening one’s pain.
For all of Carr’s insights into Masha’s behavior there is one area I would question – her language skills. Carr goes a little overboard when discussing his verbal interactions with Masha, particularly the idea that she is sounding out words. I do believe cats do understand a series of words, but to go as far as a conversation between a human and a feline I have my doubts. In the end Carr has authored a marvelous book delving into his lifelong relationship with cats and focusing on Masha in particular. Carr has written a love story which can only bring a smile and tears to the reader.
*Chris Bohjalian. “Libraries are full of books about great cats. This one is special.” Washington Post , April 13, 2024.
To learn more about Caleb Carr and his latest book check out the following article from the Los Angeles Times:
‘Alienist’ author Caleb Carr — grieving his late cat — reflects on his life amid battle with cancer
Caleb Carr considered his late cat Masha, the subject of his new book, the love of his life.
By Chris Vognar
April 15, 2024 3 AM PT
My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me
By Caleb Carr
Little, Brown: 352 pages, $32
Caleb Carr visits the grave of his beloved Masha, whom he considers the love of his life, every day. “We have a little chat,” said Carr, best known for his 1994 crime novel “The Alienist,” during a video call from his home in upstate New York. It’s late at night — Carr is a longtime night owl who does most of his work after it gets dark — and the author, who now has a long white beard, is thinking about grief and dying — subjects that linger over his new nonfiction book, “My Beloved Monster,” and loom over what might be the final months of his life.
Masha, the beloved monster, was a Siberian forest cat whom Carr rescued from a shelter and built a life with in his mountainside home in Cherry Plain, N.Y. Animals, particularly cats, had long been a source of companionship and comfort for Carr, an antidote of sorts to a chaotic, abusive childhood in New York’s Lower East Side. As Carr writes in the new book, his father, the Beat poet, journalist and convicted manslaughterer Lucien Carr, had a habit of knocking his son down flights of stairs. “I began to understand that he was trying to kill me,” Carr writes. “And while I didn’t yet know about his past” — Lucien Carr stabbed David Kammerer to death in 1944, later claiming that Kammerer came on to him sexually and offering a “gay panic” defense — “I certainly recognized, from the horrifying and even gleeful expressions that would enter his face when he came after me, that he was capable of killing.”
“I have been living with the idea of death since I was a small kid because my father taught me about it,” he said. But death has become much more than an idea of late. Carr, 68, has cancer, which started in his prostate and has spread throughout his body.
“If I could be around when the book is published, that would be really nice,” he said in late January. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when, but it’s not going to be good. I always knew cancer moved fast, but boy, when it starts to move, it starts to eat you. Madness. Just madness.” “My Beloved Monster” will be released on Tuesday.
It was Masha’s death on April 5, 2022, and Carr’s subsequent despondence, that led him to write “My Beloved Monster,” which reads as a love story, a tribute and a reminder that, in some instances, the uncomplicated love of animals helps humans keep going.
A blond, long-haired beauty with a wild side who had been rescued from a cat hoarder, Masha initially greeted Carr, as he writes, with “one of the most communicative gazes I’d ever seen in a cat, a look facilitated by the structure of her face: the eyes were oriented fully forward, like a big cat’s rather than a domestic’s, and seemed to comprehend everything she was studying — especially me — only too well.” Carr writes about cats with a tender vividness that might make you see your own pets through new eyes.
As a child Carr lived in an environment where people couldn’t be trusted, with wild parties and everyday life descending into violence. He lived in a neighborhood so rife with drugs and prostitution that it provided the shooting location for the climax of Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver.” But he always had animals: dogs, gerbils, fish, rabbits and, most to the young Carr’s liking, cats. The family cats would join him in cowering from the domestic turmoil, and comfort him as he reeled from another beating. They seemed to understand him.
Carr would go on to a career as a military historian, journalist and novelist, reaching a wide audience with “The Alienist” (and its 1997 follow-up, “The Angel of Darkness”). The books put his darkness into words as he told the story of a late 19th century forensic psychiatrist on the trail of a serial killer. But he never really forgot his four-legged friends. When he met Masha, he quickly realized he had found a soulmate.
“Animals fulfill something that was damaged in all of us when we were very young and can’t be fixed by people,” Carr said. “We can go on to have relationships with people, but those wounds need a different kind of treatment than people can provide, and that causes trouble when you have to explain that very carefully to whatever girlfriend or whatever significant other you have. I never lasted as long with a woman as I did with Masha, God knows, and no woman ever did for me what she did, which sounds crazy even to me. But it’s really true.”
Carr was actually contracted to write another “Alienist” book, but the spirit did not move him. He was deep in grief and needed to get it onto the page. He began cranking out the story of his life with Masha and sent a draft to his editor, Bruce Nichols, who was also the publisher of Little, Brown before he stepped down in March. Nichols was on board with Carr’s change in direction from serial killing to cat love.
“It was clearly a passion project for him, not only because of his medical situation but because he spent his whole life with cats and this one was very special to him,” Nichols said. “If you’re a cat lover and owner, or a dog person, I think it will resonate with you. And I don’t think it matters whether you care about historical fiction or military history or any of Caleb’s past experiences. It’s sui generis. It is what it is, and it’s an amazing book.”
Carr certainly hopes to tap into the pet community (and perhaps see if any “Alienist” fans are Catster subscribers). He also hopes to win over skeptics who might doubt whether one can love and grieve a beloved animal with the intensity usually reserved for another human.
“I’m hoping that some people will learn from this, and maybe even catch themselves almost thinking of Masha as a person,” Carr said. “That’s really what we have to do as a society much more: Think of these animals as our equals. That’s what they are.”
March 9, 2024
I have never read a book where someone was able to so identify with a beloved pet. Because of their earlier shared trauma, the author and his beloved cat developed a strong, beautiful relationship where they could understand each other better than most people. The stories of what happened to both Caleb Carr himself and the pets he had throughout his life broke my heart, but this relationship with his Masha was like a reward he earned. I haven't cried so hard over anything for years.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.
June 1, 2025
If you are an animal lover, especially if you’ve lived with cats, you’ll probably get this. If not, you’re very likely to think the author is, well, maybe just a bit bonkers for the intensity of his attachment to his magnificent cat. Caleb Carr, the novelist probably best known for The Alienist, here recounts his life and fiercely close relationship with Masha, a large and gloriously beautiful Siberian forest cat. For 17 years, the two spent only a few nights apart, when Carr needed to seek medical treatment for his many painful and crippling ailments. This is a memorial tribute to Masha that Carr began shortly after her death, and while he faced his imminent own passing of terminal cancer. Masha was a rescue cat from an animal shelter, abused and abandoned in terrible conditions (left behind in a locked apartment, with no food or water) and who allowed absolutely no one to approach her, until she instantly latched on to Carr—clearly choosing him as a kindred spirit. From that point on, the two lived in his rural, propertied home in New York state, and Masha reigned as the wild queen of her domain, even at one point fending off a bear. Carr’s love for her, and hers for him, led him to some behaviour that many would call extreme—simply, his life revolved around keeping her well and safe, and her devotion to him allowed him to face his own physical ordeals. A beautiful, moving thing. I’m not ashamed to admit that I wept buckets at the end.
P.S. I’ve just upped this from four to five stars, because in the months since I finished reading it, this book has just haunted me. It’s such a gorgeously written account of the intense human-animal bond that existed between the novelist and his wild, majestic cat Masha—both wounded creatures who were so devoted to each other.
P.S. I’ve just upped this from four to five stars, because in the months since I finished reading it, this book has just haunted me. It’s such a gorgeously written account of the intense human-animal bond that existed between the novelist and his wild, majestic cat Masha—both wounded creatures who were so devoted to each other.
February 18, 2024
I really had to slog through this book. After all, what’s not to like? Great author telling an animal tale is right up my alley. But I struggled in reading this. It was a combination of writing style, his know it all attitude about cats, and the incredible minutiae about the landscape around his mountain home that just fried my brain. It all led me to DNF at 49%.
My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of the book.
My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of the book.
February 13, 2025
WARNING TO CAT-LOVERS: This is a five-hankie book. Don’t start reading it unless you have a box of Kleenex close to hand.
Masha is an abused, starved, bad-tempered Rescue Cat. Underneath that matted fur is a Siberian Forest Cat … Who immediately bonds with Carr, to the amazement of the workers at the Animal Sanctuary, who had labelled her Trouble with a Capital “T” … Obviously, she saw Carr as the ticket out of “Jail” … Absolutely Stellar …
by
Virginia Woolf
by
Barbara Bush
Masha is an abused, starved, bad-tempered Rescue Cat. Underneath that matted fur is a Siberian Forest Cat … Who immediately bonds with Carr, to the amazement of the workers at the Animal Sanctuary, who had labelled her Trouble with a Capital “T” … Obviously, she saw Carr as the ticket out of “Jail” … Absolutely Stellar …
by
Virginia Woolf
by
Barbara BushThis entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 30, 2025
An adorable little memoir of a close and profoundly emotional relationship of 17 years between the author and his Siberian forest cat. I resonated deeply with this since I also have found a safe haven, friendship, and deep love for my cats. Carr seems to have invested similarly much of his emotional life into in the relationship, finding camaraderie, love, and sympathy. He shares some of his own interesting story and career along the way so you don’t just drown in random facts about cats. The ending was heartwarming. Every cat deserves no less, especially the misunderstood🥺
April 15, 2024
Carr has had a difficult life, and his relationship with his beloved cat Masha is complex & utterly devoted. Not always an easy read, but interesting.
October 2, 2024
I’m a cat lover and have been all my life. I have had the honor of living with seven of these beautiful creatures during my adult life. I had at least a half dozen as a child as well. They are a way of life for me.
Therefore, it shouldn’t be too surprising to hear that I literally fell in love with this book very quickly. I was completely captivated and I felt like I was in a place I had no desire to leave.
Author Caleb Carr is well known for his thrillers and military histories. Reading about his life, I can see he was reclusive and unconventional. I even read a review where one of his former editors talked about what a tough guy Carr was only to turn around and write such a deeply felt book about his all important relationship with his cat Masha.
Carr gives lots of details about a cat’s nature along with care tips. I actually really enjoyed these - my knowledge of a cat’s ways is fairly deep and I always love hearing how another cares for their cat. The tips that some reviewers disliked? I can always learn something new so I listened happily.
Carr is recently deceased and this is the tale of his and Masha’s life together not so long ago. Masha was with him for 17 years. He loved Masha so well. He saw meaningful actions in her that I had only guessed at in my cat history. It’s a very gentle story filled with enough cat mischief to make a fully fleshed out book.
If you are fond of cats, I definitely recommend. If you are a firm “dogs only” type, it might not be the best choice unless you enjoy a heartfelt tale cause this is just that.
Thanks to Caleb Carr for giving this cat lover an immensely satisfying and loving tribute to cats everywhere.
Therefore, it shouldn’t be too surprising to hear that I literally fell in love with this book very quickly. I was completely captivated and I felt like I was in a place I had no desire to leave.
Author Caleb Carr is well known for his thrillers and military histories. Reading about his life, I can see he was reclusive and unconventional. I even read a review where one of his former editors talked about what a tough guy Carr was only to turn around and write such a deeply felt book about his all important relationship with his cat Masha.
Carr gives lots of details about a cat’s nature along with care tips. I actually really enjoyed these - my knowledge of a cat’s ways is fairly deep and I always love hearing how another cares for their cat. The tips that some reviewers disliked? I can always learn something new so I listened happily.
Carr is recently deceased and this is the tale of his and Masha’s life together not so long ago. Masha was with him for 17 years. He loved Masha so well. He saw meaningful actions in her that I had only guessed at in my cat history. It’s a very gentle story filled with enough cat mischief to make a fully fleshed out book.
If you are fond of cats, I definitely recommend. If you are a firm “dogs only” type, it might not be the best choice unless you enjoy a heartfelt tale cause this is just that.
Thanks to Caleb Carr for giving this cat lover an immensely satisfying and loving tribute to cats everywhere.
June 2, 2024
I found this book so powerful that I waited to gather my thoughts before writing. I loved Caleb Carr’s books and I was shocked by a recent interview where he reported that he had terminal cancer. Indeed, he died less than two months after this memoir was published.
I have always adored cats and was delighted to see that Carr felt the same way. His connection with his cats, especially Masha, surpassed my own love.
His memoir about their shared lives, their dedication to one another, and their similar backgrounds is a lovely record of their time together. Carr includes a lot of his difficult and painful history. I’d known only a fraction of this and found it appalling and shocking and awful.
I have now started rereading The Alienist, the bestseller that made Carr a household name. I’m only several chapters into it and can see Carr everywhere. There are descriptions of his neighborhood, his parents’ alcoholic behavior, and a jab at Harvard for rejecting his application. None of this is obvious unless you know his background. It makes rereading The Alienist a very different experience than when I first read it thirty years ago.
For anyone who loves cats and who loves Caleb Carr and who loves beautiful memoirs, this is a wonderful albeit tragic tale of two injured souls comforting one another. I know it will stay with me.
I have always adored cats and was delighted to see that Carr felt the same way. His connection with his cats, especially Masha, surpassed my own love.
His memoir about their shared lives, their dedication to one another, and their similar backgrounds is a lovely record of their time together. Carr includes a lot of his difficult and painful history. I’d known only a fraction of this and found it appalling and shocking and awful.
I have now started rereading The Alienist, the bestseller that made Carr a household name. I’m only several chapters into it and can see Carr everywhere. There are descriptions of his neighborhood, his parents’ alcoholic behavior, and a jab at Harvard for rejecting his application. None of this is obvious unless you know his background. It makes rereading The Alienist a very different experience than when I first read it thirty years ago.
For anyone who loves cats and who loves Caleb Carr and who loves beautiful memoirs, this is a wonderful albeit tragic tale of two injured souls comforting one another. I know it will stay with me.
July 16, 2024
Caleb Carr's My Beloved Monster shares the seventeen years he spent with Masha. From the moment he found her in a cat shelter, their relationship was one of mutual trust and rescue. Carr had been dealing with an almost depressive state following great career success that had stalled. Masha was dealing with the aftereffects of being abandoned in an apartment by her previous owners. Both had histories of abuse in their youth. Carr wanted a cat and Masha needed a home. Don't dismiss this book as just another cat story. Remember the writing talent that created the number one best seller The Alienist: he shows it again here. It's in the vocabulary, the pacing, the juxtaposition of events, facts and details. Everything in the book is part of the story. Even the huge multilevel house on over ten acres at the edge of the forest filled with wildlife next to family-owned land is vital to the atmosphere. The result is a complex memoir that allows the reader to understand why Carr wanted to outlive his cat and why Carr's death soon after publication was inevitable. My own cat has been with me seventeen years. If she were to die, I could look at those seventeen years but couldn't come close to sharing in as meaningful a way as Carr.
November 4, 2024
Masha, a Siberian Forest cat was not really a monster. But neither was she a contented house cat. Abused in her youth, she became a beloved companion of the author while maintaining her semi-wild nature. I suffered with both of them through physical difficulties and moments of peril. The author also had a difficult childhood. He seems to prefer the quiet life with little human contact. Trust between the man and his cat developed slowly. It ripened into a mutual pact to care for each other for life.
Mr. Carr made me more aware of what my own three cats are thinking. I watch them closely now, curious about just how much we understand each other. I try to anticipate their needs and I thank the author for this personal awakening.
Mr. Carr made me more aware of what my own three cats are thinking. I watch them closely now, curious about just how much we understand each other. I try to anticipate their needs and I thank the author for this personal awakening.
December 18, 2023
A very powerful book. I plan to write more soon, once I have had some time to think about it.
July 29, 2024
5.0 stars This book is still haunting me days after I have finished it. I have not read any of this author's work before this and found the writing to be a bit stuffy at first. After a while I grew to appreciate his style and began to like the man behind the words very much.
I prefer dogs but I do like cats. I love my friends' cats. This cat is very special; extremely intelligent, brave and beautiful. I think I fell in love with Masha too. Although I mourn the loss of this writer, I am glad that Caleb is with her again and has had his question answered.
I prefer dogs but I do like cats. I love my friends' cats. This cat is very special; extremely intelligent, brave and beautiful. I think I fell in love with Masha too. Although I mourn the loss of this writer, I am glad that Caleb is with her again and has had his question answered.
May 19, 2024
I'm at a loss how to describe this. The back of the book describes it as a "grief narrative," but it is also part biography, part how-to, and part reminder that the bond you share with loved ones is paramount, even if the recipient happens to have four legs and fur. I lost my own 17-year old best friend this past March, after which something inside me felt irreparably broken, but to read Mr. Carr's account of his relationship with Masha, I was doubly gutted to realize that I could've and should've done a better job for my feline friend. (and I honestly thought I was doing everything I could.) Of course, grief and loss can do this to the best of us, I assume, and Caleb Carr has my utmost respect. I'll keep Masha with me as much as I can, since his book made me feel like I knew and loved her, too.
May 25, 2024
A very poignant reveal of the author and his cat Masha. Did he rescue her or did she rescue him?
The book brought out the psychology of cat and man, and how the two of them lived together
for seventeen years.
An amazing story
The book brought out the psychology of cat and man, and how the two of them lived together
for seventeen years.
An amazing story
April 20, 2024
4 1/2 Stars
She will always be the only thing
That comes between me and the awful sting
That comes from living in a world that’s so damn mean.
- Mark O. Everett, “My Beloved Monster”, 1996
That passage has incredible meaning for author Caleb Carr and will probably ring true for anyone who has been fortunate enough to take solace in their furry family member that provides unconditional love. In Carr’s case, it has always been about special cats, and there was none more special to him than his Masha.
First of all, let me confirm that this is THE Caleb Carr --- the author of the beloved literary classics THE ALIENIST and ANGEL OF DARKNESS. This memoir is set in the Misery Mountains, part of the Taconics that surround him in his Hudson Valley, New York home. It is in this cabin home in the woods that he leads a solitary life. The subject of this memoir is the 17 years spent with Masha, his sole companion outside of occasional guests.
MY BELOVED MONSTER: Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me is a heart-warming, stunningly realistic depiction of the symbiotic and special relationship between a human and his pet. However, for those who are pet lovers or have ever had a special feline in their lives, you recognize that the bond is much deeper than mere companionship and co-habitation. Carr found Masha at an animal shelter in Rutland, VT. It was clear that she was probably a year or two old. The back story he received, one which he could not initially comprehend, was that her owners had left her behind in an apartment when they moved. It was only Masha’s cries and other noises she could muster that alerted other tenants that a hungry, lonely cat was still there.
Carr brought her back to his cabin the Hudson Valley, at the foot of Misery Mountain, and made the decision to allow her to be an indoor/outdoor cat, within certain parameters to avoid the many forest predators in the area. Mash was a beautiful, feisty Siberian light-colored cat with a majestic tail that resembled a feather duster. She was quite vocal and active, so Carr had no worries about interactive life with her. They were immediately a family. Masha right away to charge of the house and all the daily activities.
Carr would have guests every once and a while who would stay overnight. One of the funniest quirks of Masha’s was her penchant for stealing socks. The Mystery of the Missing Socks plagued the house for quite a while, that is until Carr found Masha’s stash hidden inside a compartment of her cat tree. Being a cat who may have been abused by her first owners was something made apparent to Carr by a Vet who pointed out issues with her hips and some arthritis settling in. This would be just the start of a myriad of maladies faced by Masha that also included surviving both a bear and fisher weasel attacks. The latter, regrettably, cost Masha most of that majestic tail --- but she was a fighter!
Carr and Masha were made for each other --- especially as Carr’s own medical maladies were serious and required constant attention --- spinal issues, neuropathy, and pancreatitis. These often put him down physically and mentally, but Masha was there to service him spiritually. Masha ended up developing feline neuropathy and, as her age approached 18 or 19, Carr had to face the reality that her quality of life may be limited. The ending is one that millions of pet owners have faced, but Carr tells it in such an honest, respectful manner that you will have a difficult time holding back the tears. He put this experience so perfectly: ‘…these are the most difficult and indeed cruel questions that one faces during a life with creatures who do not, finally, speak our language, no matter how correctly we may think we are interpreting their actions and gestures.’
Caleb Carr is quite a writer and no fictional story can reach the amount of emotional grace he showed in sharing this life of his beloved companion, Masha.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
She will always be the only thing
That comes between me and the awful sting
That comes from living in a world that’s so damn mean.
- Mark O. Everett, “My Beloved Monster”, 1996
That passage has incredible meaning for author Caleb Carr and will probably ring true for anyone who has been fortunate enough to take solace in their furry family member that provides unconditional love. In Carr’s case, it has always been about special cats, and there was none more special to him than his Masha.
First of all, let me confirm that this is THE Caleb Carr --- the author of the beloved literary classics THE ALIENIST and ANGEL OF DARKNESS. This memoir is set in the Misery Mountains, part of the Taconics that surround him in his Hudson Valley, New York home. It is in this cabin home in the woods that he leads a solitary life. The subject of this memoir is the 17 years spent with Masha, his sole companion outside of occasional guests.
MY BELOVED MONSTER: Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me is a heart-warming, stunningly realistic depiction of the symbiotic and special relationship between a human and his pet. However, for those who are pet lovers or have ever had a special feline in their lives, you recognize that the bond is much deeper than mere companionship and co-habitation. Carr found Masha at an animal shelter in Rutland, VT. It was clear that she was probably a year or two old. The back story he received, one which he could not initially comprehend, was that her owners had left her behind in an apartment when they moved. It was only Masha’s cries and other noises she could muster that alerted other tenants that a hungry, lonely cat was still there.
Carr brought her back to his cabin the Hudson Valley, at the foot of Misery Mountain, and made the decision to allow her to be an indoor/outdoor cat, within certain parameters to avoid the many forest predators in the area. Mash was a beautiful, feisty Siberian light-colored cat with a majestic tail that resembled a feather duster. She was quite vocal and active, so Carr had no worries about interactive life with her. They were immediately a family. Masha right away to charge of the house and all the daily activities.
Carr would have guests every once and a while who would stay overnight. One of the funniest quirks of Masha’s was her penchant for stealing socks. The Mystery of the Missing Socks plagued the house for quite a while, that is until Carr found Masha’s stash hidden inside a compartment of her cat tree. Being a cat who may have been abused by her first owners was something made apparent to Carr by a Vet who pointed out issues with her hips and some arthritis settling in. This would be just the start of a myriad of maladies faced by Masha that also included surviving both a bear and fisher weasel attacks. The latter, regrettably, cost Masha most of that majestic tail --- but she was a fighter!
Carr and Masha were made for each other --- especially as Carr’s own medical maladies were serious and required constant attention --- spinal issues, neuropathy, and pancreatitis. These often put him down physically and mentally, but Masha was there to service him spiritually. Masha ended up developing feline neuropathy and, as her age approached 18 or 19, Carr had to face the reality that her quality of life may be limited. The ending is one that millions of pet owners have faced, but Carr tells it in such an honest, respectful manner that you will have a difficult time holding back the tears. He put this experience so perfectly: ‘…these are the most difficult and indeed cruel questions that one faces during a life with creatures who do not, finally, speak our language, no matter how correctly we may think we are interpreting their actions and gestures.’
Caleb Carr is quite a writer and no fictional story can reach the amount of emotional grace he showed in sharing this life of his beloved companion, Masha.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
May 14, 2024
“You better be where I can find you.” If your heart didn’t break there, check your pulse.
I listened to this as an audiobook read by James Lurie. It was the best reading of an audiobook I’ve ever heard. He tapped into Carr’s love for and devotion to Masha. I also ordered the book because I wanted to help Carr immortalize her as he wished to do.
This was a brave book for him to write and I appreciate that he did. This is a man who was complete failed by his parents, and thus his trust in humans. That he could experience the unconditional love shared with Masha is even more so important having been so betrayed by his parents. Animals deserve our love and dedication. I always believed the saying “you don’t find animals, they find us”’and this was true for Carr. They were the perfect match in spirit and body, both having long lasting scars from early abuse. I’m thankful he chose to honor his “beloved monster” and share his relationship with her, with us.
I listened to this as an audiobook read by James Lurie. It was the best reading of an audiobook I’ve ever heard. He tapped into Carr’s love for and devotion to Masha. I also ordered the book because I wanted to help Carr immortalize her as he wished to do.
This was a brave book for him to write and I appreciate that he did. This is a man who was complete failed by his parents, and thus his trust in humans. That he could experience the unconditional love shared with Masha is even more so important having been so betrayed by his parents. Animals deserve our love and dedication. I always believed the saying “you don’t find animals, they find us”’and this was true for Carr. They were the perfect match in spirit and body, both having long lasting scars from early abuse. I’m thankful he chose to honor his “beloved monster” and share his relationship with her, with us.
May 18, 2024
2.5 stars I was so excited to finally get this book from the library …..until I started reading it. The author spews some incorrect and blatantly false facts about cats. They don’t feel “confined” when kept inside a safe, warm, and loving home. They don’t need to roam outside. They don’t need to kill innocent rodents. They don’t need to climb trees and get injured. They don’t need to fight off bears and get hurt. And while cats can definitely sense their persons feelings, the author described his cat as much too “human”. I know the author loved his cat and had a deep bond with him however much of his behavior was irresponsible which he tried to justify by trying to convince his readers it’s what cats need and want. I’ve shared my life with 13 cats over many, many years (all rescues) and I can tell you he is 100% incorrect about 99% of the cat “facts” he pushes. I am grateful the kitty lived a long life and was adopted though.
February 24, 2025
This is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read.
There are moments that are tough to read (animals
in peril from other animals, abusive parents, and deaths of beloved cats), yet there are moments that are so sweet and heartwarming as well.
I feel so grateful that Carr shared his beautiful relationship with Masha with all of us and I appreciated his epilogue which is one of the most profound and important pieces of writing I’ve ever read.
There are moments that are tough to read (animals
in peril from other animals, abusive parents, and deaths of beloved cats), yet there are moments that are so sweet and heartwarming as well.
I feel so grateful that Carr shared his beautiful relationship with Masha with all of us and I appreciated his epilogue which is one of the most profound and important pieces of writing I’ve ever read.
March 25, 2024
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I love cats, and stories about them, and this book did not disappoint. Masha was a wonderful cat, and this book is full of her cattitude.
If you enjoy a good tale well told, you'll enjoy this. And besides learning about Masha, you'll learn about Mr. Carr.
I love cats, and stories about them, and this book did not disappoint. Masha was a wonderful cat, and this book is full of her cattitude.
If you enjoy a good tale well told, you'll enjoy this. And besides learning about Masha, you'll learn about Mr. Carr.
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