Cat and Bird: A Memoir

by Kyoko Mori

From the critically acclaimed author of  Shizuko’s Daughter  (a  New York Times  Notable Book)   and  Yarn , comes a fascinating new memoir about animals, loss, and finding a home in the world.
 
Cat and Bird , a “memoir in animals,” is anchored around Kyoko Mori’s relationship with the six house cats who defined the major eras of her life as a Dorian, Oscar, Ernest, Algernon, Miles, and Jackson. As she details the rhythms and routines of their days together, she weaves a narrative tapestry out of her the deep family tragedy and resilience that marked her childhood in Japan, her move to the American Midwest as a young adult, her experiences as a bird rehabilitator and cat trainer, her marriage and divorce, and the joys and profound heartbreaks that come with pet ownership. Full of razor-sharp observations and generous prose,  Cat and Bird  whirls into a moving meditation about grief, writing, the imagination, the solitary life, and the wonders of companionship with creatures both domestic and wild.

Genres: Cats, Nonfiction, Memoir, Animals, Biography Memoir, Nature, Birds

215 pages, Paperback

Published March 5, 2024

About the author

Kyoko Mori was born in Kobe, Japan, in 1957. As a young girl, she learned numerous ways to be creative, including drawing, sewing, and writing, from her mother and her mother's family. From those family members, Mori says, "I came to understand the magic of transformation — a limitless possibility of turning nothing into something."

Mori's life changed completely at age 12, when her mother died. Her father remarried one year later, but the household was not a happy one, and Mori looked for ways to stay away from home. Eventually, she moved to the United States to attend college. She then went to graduate school, where she studied creative writing.

Mori's writing grows out of her personal experiences, but she doesn't always write exactly what happens in her own life. "I think that the best thing about being a writer is that we get to make up things and tell the truth at the same time," she says. Since she received her doctoral degree in 1984, Mori has taught creative writing and has published fiction, poetry, and essays.

Reviews

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

’The stories I tell are the spokes of a wheel in perpetual motion. Their sources are as constant and elusive as birds migrating across the hemispheres. Whenever I sit down at my desk, alone but together with my cats, the act of writing becomes a ceremony of stillness’

This touches, briefly, on climate change, and how it affects birds, but this is, essentially, a memoir which touches on various times in her life, and how each change in her life took her down another path, another challenge, and how she navigates her life.

The core of this centers around memories of her family, her leaving her home to move to America, how having to return for a family funeral and the memories of how dismissive they were toward her, because she is a woman. How it impels her to live her life on her own terms, but most of all, this is a memoir of her love of all animals, especially the cats who enter her life later on.

An introspective memoir, she shares much of her life in snippets early on, but once she decides that she not only wants to leave the man she had once loved behind, she wants to find a new life, a new way of living. A life on her own terms. And so she leaves.

This won’t appeal to everyone, but for those who care about nature and animals, this is one you won’t want to miss. Her life changes in many ways, and many times after she moves. At the heart of this story is her love of her new life, and her love for the cats who have come into her life and with whom she has shared her life with over many years.


Pub Date: March 5, 2024


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Belt Publishing / Ingram Publisher Services

[g]

dnf at 17%. it’s just not what i thought it was gonna be. it doesn’t inspire any emotions, even anger. so i don’t really see the point in finishing it.

[Sophia Pageau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay I don’t usually write reviews for a book, but I just absolutely had to for this one. This is one of the most beautiful, heartwarming, and gut wrenching books I have ever read. The writing style is incredible and addictive. I highly recommend this to absolutely everyone, as it is a beautiful and inspiring story that is told in the most unique and wonderful way. Every cat lover (including myself) will be torn apart yet in love with the way Mori writes her journey, I found myself laughing, crying (more like balling my eyes out), and smiling constantly. If I could force everyone I know to read a book, it would most certainly be this one.

[Collin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was about something else, as in, the author having all 6 cats at once and it being a grand old time and adventure. Kyoko only ever has a cat or two with her at a time, and it’s interesting to read about how they interact with her on her journey through life and unpacking her past. Kyoko’s cats come to represent home itself for her and ground her - despite multiple moves across the U.S and job changes.
The passing of Dorian and Oscar were tough to read. The cats are built up in the story so that you too, the reader, care about them too. But the pacing of the book from there completely tears to shreds any connection you are able to generate to one of the cats as it feels like the author is just burning through them. I wasn’t quite sure how much time was passing until the next cat passed. Decisions from the author later in the book to just choose a kitten from a breeder impulsively(based off which one purred for her first) and reintroducing Ernest and Miles (I believe) when one of them had an infective health condition and the other was older in order to preserve the cats relationship over their health just completely negated the cleverness in naming Oscar and Dorian at the beginning of the book and the meaning behind the tattoos for them that gave the beginning of the book so much meaning.

I thought this book did its job and it has 3 stars because the writing is fine but my problem is that the authors actions took away from what worked so well early on in the book.

Aside from that, the book deals with coming of age as one overcomes their past in order to move forward into the future. It deals with relationships and grief over loved ones.

[Rachel Ritchhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

"With one cat to keep me afloat and the other to anchor me, I am where I belong, at home in this world." I laughed, I cried, I thought damn that's relatable. While this is my first introduction to Mori, her Memoir was uplifting and very relatable if you've ever found yourself more fond of your cats than any romantic partner.

[Kat V · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ok essay I read for school but I’ll be honest I didn’t really get it

[Darlene Acero · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this memoir while book shopping in Pittsburgh this past spring and I’m glad I finally got to it. As a cat lover myself, this memoir was very heartwarming and very unique!

Kyoko Mori walks us through her turbulent childhood in Japan, her “escape” to the United States, and her adventures as a young professional in the midwest, Cambridge, and eventually Washington DC. Early on she describes her experience as a volunteer bird rehabilitator and eventually transitions to describing her life with the various cats (6 if i counted correctly) throughout her lifetime. Although the book heavily focuses on the cats themselves, it’s not solely about them.

Having lost two of my childhood dogs in the last 5 years and having a cat I love very much (who I adopted as an “Adult”), I found this memoir very enjoyable to read but also very thought provoking. I’m very big into books that explore relationships between people and how those people shape our lives, but I don’t think we write/read/think enough about the effect our pets have on us.

[Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

1.) let me be in my feels about my dead cat.
2.) i have never met a cat lady that is such a cat lady (non-derogatory)

I knew this book would resonate viciously with me when I learned about it. A woman reflecting on the cats of her life, dead and alive, was something I needed to interact with as I get closer to a year without Scrappy. I carry him in my heart everyday and it was so comforting to read about the lasting impact your soul cat leaves even when you bring new cats in. One day I’d love for my travel schedule for work to subdue in such a way that I can start a new chapter with a little buddy who has new things to teach me in the next phase of my life. The symbiotic relationship between a human and their pet is something to thoroughly treasure and I have never learned lessons on love so deeply than I have with my soul pets.

[Stacy Wilhoit DeCoste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quiet as a cat's paw, the words of this memoir creep up on you, thought by thought, leaving a feeling of soft satisfaction. Born in Japan, as a child Kyoko Mori preferred spending time in her room, reading and playing alone, mostly to escape the chaos of her childhood. Her mother and father were ill suited for each other. His frequent absences and her feelings of inadequacy led her mother to commit suicide. Mori's stepmother and father were both cruel to her. After moving to the US, Kyoko remained solitary, with a few friends, but always enjoying birdwatching and the company of cats. She has enjoyed a life just as she prefers, writing for a living and living on her own. If you enjoy the company of cats, you will get it.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came across this book while looking for books on deep human/cat relationships following the death of my soul cat. The author has intensely felt relationships with her cats, which I related to. But because it covers all the cats of her adult life, there is a lot of loss. She has an interesting life, and seems to be a quirky person, but I didn't find myself connecting with her, other than a few mentions of how much she adored her cats. And the large portions of the book that were related to other aspects of her life mainly raised questions about her quirks rather than than really bringing us along for the story.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars - This was a melancholic, at times sweet, little set of essays about one person's connection to her cats as familial little life-anchors that stay much too briefly. As anyone who has had a cat or who has connected to their pets as family members during turbulent, difficult, or changeable times, knows, these beings bring lights with them that we don't always notice until they're extinguished. The grief is so great when they are gone, and if we are lucky enough to find another furry family member to bring back into our hearts, we set ourselves up to do it all again. But it's worth it, for many of us. This book felt like a spotlight on that exact thing without too much extraneous writing. I really appreciated the brevity and succinctness of the memoir.

*p. 133 -- "When people take about companionship as the mainstay of marriage, they meant a married couple could experience change together but remain held in place by their relationship to each other -- like tandem skydivers falling through the atmosphere."

[Anna Persky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir essentially follows the narrator's relationship with birds and the cats she brings into her life. She weaves in and out of other stories about her childhood, the death of her mother, her marriage, moves, along themes such as friendship, solitude, and self-knowledge. Parts of it are pretty funny, too.

The prose itself is gorgeous, and I found myself repeating out loud paragraphs that spoke to me. A lovely, lovely read.

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of a melancholy memoir. I have always been a cat lover and I am now at a point in my life where I have a 10 y/o kitty that has been my everything. Reading about Kyoko’s cats over the years I was constantly relating them back to my own cat. I read most of this book curled up with my boy sleeping in my arms. Reading about her cats deaths felt like I was losing my Percy. Hugging him tighter and valuing our time together throughout this read.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I savored this book, only reading bits of it at a time so that it wouldn’t end too soon!

Honestly I do not relate to the author; I love humans too much to be a solo cat person. However it takes *so much skill* to write in a way that is interesting nonetheless. Mori writes some of the best literary fiction I have read in a while, and Cat and Bird made me think of all of the animals who have greatly enriched my life. Such a potent reminder of the beauty all around us.

[Hayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful story of how the love of cats impacts the life of the human who loves them. I have some critiques regarding breeders and how none of these cats were adopted off the street or from a shelter, but ultimately the fact that these special cats were there for the author over her life outshines where the cats were from.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay I’ve read a lot of cat books, but this one hit the hardest. The love and loss of a pet, specifically a cat, is beautiful and heartbreaking. My own loss of kittens through the past year has given me my own tragic perspective, but if I had to live that year over again I would pick Ozzie, Po, and then Winston each time.

It’s a beautiful story, and it deserves a read.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a delight, in a quiet meditative way. Like Taylor Swift's albums, the eras of our pets live indelible marks on the arc of our lives.

(Im terrible at reviews, but please pick up this book, it's worth it.)

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, it challenged me to look more deeply at my own relationship with my cats and how to deal with the grief that would come with losing them. But the writing is hopeful, too. Just a book that put me in my feels.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 but rounded up.

[kerrycat · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely heartrending and gorgeous

[LG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and heartfelt. I have never cry so much while reading a book.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Andala · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely book about a writer and her love of cats and birds

[Rishika · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that deals with a lot of death (pets and otherwise). The plot hit hard as a person who lost a loved pet just in May and I wasn’t able to be there in their final moments.

[Matt Berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and sad and funny and perfect

[adora !! · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5
Very touching I love autistic women and if you do too I think you’ll love this one

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

This memoir seemed to have promise at the beginning. By the end, I just wanted it to end. Enough about cats, already!

[Heather Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written great book.

[Maddy Hraber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I love any memoir I read but this was a cool structure and quite lovely. Yay local authors

[Jbondandrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely beautiful book. I loved the names Dorian, Oscar, Ernest, Alernon, Miles and Jackson. I think this might be my most favourite cat book. I wish I could give a higher rating than five.