Men With Cats: Intimate Portraits of Feline Friendship

by David Williams

Celebrate man's other best friend—the cat—in this delightful gift book for pet lovers, feline fans, and anyone who appreciates cats and the dudes who love them.
 
Countless books and blogs have extolled the virtues of the Cat Lady—now photographer David Williams celebrates cat-owning men and the precious kitties who have stolen their hearts. His subjects represent a cross-section of American society—musicians and artists, soldiers and CEOs, truck drivers and tattoo artists—with one very furry common denominator. These fun, fuzzy, and offbeat portraits are full of personality, and the accompanying stories share everything from “how we met” to how the cats earned their names.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Cats, Animals, Art

143 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2016

About the author

David Williams is a freelance photographer from Denver, Colorado currently living in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up with four siblings, an abundance of pets, and a mother insistent on capturing their every move with a camera. Along with his personal photography projects about Antarctica, bowling, and touring musicians, David’s editorial photographs have been seen on the pages of many different magazines across the world. When he’s not behind the camera, you’ll find David cooking vegan food, going to punk shows, or lacing up his hockey skates.

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable. And A+ to the guy who named his cat Pam from Accounting.

[Caro the Helmet Lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Williams had a very simple but also super awesome idea to take photographs of guys with their cats. Or shall I say cats with their guys? Anyways, enjoyed this little book very much and some words in it were extremely heartwarming (about cats of course). A perfect gift for cat people!

[Lolly's Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t a profound book. There aren’t any essays full of deep, philosophical musings on how these men’s lives changed once a cat entered into it. Nope, it’s simply a warm, sweet, occasionally amusing, often on-the-nose collection of photographs of men who happen to share their lives with a cat (or cats) and accompanying quotes from these men expressing a particular thought or moment from their feline-based existence. I think what's most startling is how no one individual in this book matches the common perception of what a man who owns a cat "should" look like. The men in this book come from all walks of life, come in all ages, from different locations across the country; there are tattooed bikers, bearded hipsters, beardless youths, bald retirees, gay men, straight men, fathers and sons, roommates, loners, and everything in between. The only thing they have in common is that they own (or rather are owned by) a cat. (Trust me, if you’re a fellow feline caretaker, you understand what I’m talking about; if you’ve only ever lived with dogs, unlike those happy-go-lucky and grateful creatures, cats don’t belong to you so much as the other way around, and are quite happy to take advantage of this fact on a regular basis.) Even the level of cat enthusiasm varies: some are still rather reluctant, even somewhat surprised, to find themselves sharing space with a feline; others are quite happy to be known as a crazy cat fellows. It's an interesting, entertaining, amusing look at the other side of pet ownership, whether you're standing on the side as a dog owner or a woman with a cat (or cats). And I'd imagine that if you're a man who's a fellow feline lover, discovering your brotherhood would make for a warm and fuzzy, perhaps even purring, read.

[mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is an interesting story that goes with this book (my son is in it, pg. 85); but I'll not bother you with *that* story, instead I'll just comment on the book. It's definitely a millennial book, i.e. has a hipster/Brooklyn/Portland/Denver slant, which might be off-putting to some. Hemingway was a cat man, and there are no Hemingway types represented in these pages - so there's a bias. Like I said - a slant. Nevertheless I love it, because, I am a cat man. Despite the author's attempt to knock down stereotypes (introduction); he sort of reinforces them. I would like it if this were not the first and last book with regard to Men with Cats. That said, it's well worth the dollars spent to have it sit on your coffee table. I love books like this!

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute concept with interesting little insights into cat lovers and all the different types of ways people show appreciation for their cats. It would work a lot better as a blog or Instagram account where things can be constantly added or edited.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute book with cute pictures of cats! a good gift book for cat lovers

[Rosa Cline]

4 star

I received this as a Good Reads First Reads book. I enjoy photography and cats. I enjoyed looking through and reading this 'coffee table' book. How often do you hear boys need dogs and girls needs cats. But this book the author has spend several years photographing various men with their cats. Documenting their thoughts about their companion. A very nice book you can sit and read all the way through or just one to pick up and glance through. Photographs to make you smile and appreciate relationships between pets and their owners. (Reminds me of my husband and all our cats inside and out. Our grown children call him the 'cat whisperer'.)

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book for free though Goodreads Giveaways.

This was a cute book and I read it in about 20min. The photos are really good but I wish the stories had been longer. It was just quick quotes instead of stories, really. I do have three friends who are waiting to borrow it though!

[ATab · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The most difficult thing about owning a cat will be losing him eventually. But who knows? Maybe I'll die first and he can deal with it."

[Magnus Briar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you love cats? Do you love dudes?

Boy, oh boy, do I have the book for YOU.

This is not high-brow literature. This is a cute little collection that's part photo book, part storytime. It's a flick-through, smile-wide and laugh-loud thing. It's not particularly serious or thought-provoking.

The cats are the real stars here, obviously. If you love cats, you will love this book. There is a pretty solid diversity of meowers on these pages. You get a wide range of cattitudes on display.

Unfortunately, the diversity is a bit slacking on the dude front. This is basically a Buzzfeed article somebody printed off and made into a book. The guys are copy-pasted from the same hipster template. Beards, tattoos, vintage band t-shirts, artisanal coffee mugs in the background. Not a bad genre, necessarily, relative to some others. Just not the most diverse picture of manhood you can find.

Look, at the end of the day, it's just dudes loving their cats and that's pretty great. But I gotta say what's lacking here.

The book doesn't overstay its welcome, which is kind of it. It's the kind of thing you pick up when you need a pick-me-up, not a deep literary experience. Perfect coffee table material, especially if your coffee table already has cat hair on it. The photos are lovely, the cats are adorable, and the whole thing just makes you want to go scratch behind some ears.

I'll give it a solid our stars because sometimes you just need something light and sweet, even if it's not particularly groundbreaking or diverse. It's comfort food in book form. Plus, cats. Can't really go wrong with cats.

Unless you hate cats. Don't read this book if you hate cats.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

The photographs that accompany the words from cat owners everywhere are exquisitely captured in this wonderful photography book. I enjoyed reading about the descriptions of the cats from their dads on how each of their cats are special in their eyes.

The book aims to break down barriers as far as stereotypes about who owns a cat. It does a remarkable job on the subject matter. I enjoyed browsing this book.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved my cat. I have an appreciation for other cats...and I love this book because it explores men and their relationship with their feline buddies. It is sort of adorable. Fast, cute, endearing. I like that. It's a library book though. I would actually never buy this book. More of a little treat and then it's done. So if you like cats...and men...give it a go! lol.

[Amanda Coder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always have enjoyed picture books, and this one was great because I also, too, have always been interested in how individual people live. Colorful, interesting photos with a few sentences on each page by various men talking about their cats.

[Evan Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, fun, heartfelt read. As a guy with feline friends of his own, it was nice to see men with their cats, as so often the stereotype is that cats are mainly women’s pets, and this book did a lovely job disproving that.

[Renegade Librarian Extraordinaire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute. My hubby is a total Cat Guy (our tabby girl, Lilo, has him wrapped around her stripey little tail). So they're out there, and this book is proof. After all, cat fancying isn't just a Lady thing, but an Everyone thing.

[DJL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable. What more to say?

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book! Loved the photos/names of all the pairs and the little blurb about them.

[J Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little weird to read digitally, since it's mostly designed to be read in pairs of pages, with quote on one side and photo on the other, not page-by-page, but really cute and fun all the same.

[William_Furneaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've determined that everyone who likes cats is absolutely bonkers, actually, and it's great.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really cool and fun! I enjoyed it as a fellow cat owner.

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it ! Shared it with granddaughter and son at dinner one night and they loved it too !

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

What’s not to love!

[Ceilidhchaos · Rating 4 out of 5]

adorable. good for coffee table. funny vignettes

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This photography book is another book that makes an effort to contradict the crazy cat lady stereotype, and it is effective for the most part due to its sincerity and simplicity. There is a photography of the man paired with his cat(s) with a quote that shares his thoughts, feelings, story, or something special about his cat. The men are not models and are different ages and come from diverse walks of life. It looks like they are photographed at home or on their own turf, to capture their personalities. Each caption simply lists the man's name and his cat's name. The photos don't look amateurish (like Felines of New York did), and the backgrounds are surprisingly not distracting. The men are definitely aware of the camera, but the cats are typical uncooperative models and sometimes don't look the happiest about their shoot. The cats being much smaller than their human counterpart sometimes get a little lost in the picture. I enjoyed reading each story. Some are eloquent, heart-felt, or humorous, but all are sincere. I also enjoyed seeing the variety of names the men came up with for their cats.

[Ellen Kulick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading sweet stories about people and their pets! I wish the stories were longer, but i really enjoyed the photos and the format. This book would make a cute gift for the cat lover in your life.

I received this as a Good Reads First Reads book. I plan to pass it on to other animal lovers!

[Jill Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I won it in a Goodreads giveaway, and am so glad. The pictures are somehow fascinating.....I'm not sure why, but I do know that I enjoyed every page. Highly recommend to animal lovers.

[Merton Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book found many similar situations with my 5 cats.

[Michelle Otte · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is FANTASTIC. There are no words to describe just how great this book really is.

[Bookfan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something endearing about men with cats, and these photos were all very charming.

[Leslie Jonsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing, energetic and fun look at modern men, and their love of cats.