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Mark Twain for Cat Lovers: True and Imaginary Adventures with Feline Friends
two tone hardcover no dust jacket
208 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2015
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94 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 10, 2018
I'm not sure the extent that I could be considered a cat lover. I'm not someone who has tended to ever have a lot of pets, but at the same time I certainly enjoy reading about cats [1]. This book, like many books written about cats, has a lot to say about the people who love cats as well as the furry and imperious animals themselves. And I find much to enjoy in reading about the way cats are shown in Twain's work but that still does not make me a real fan of cats in the way that Twain or many other readers of this book will be, and I'm okay with that. Obviously, those who are fond of Mark Twain's writing, especially those who are interested in his more obscure writings, will find much to enjoy here as well. Given that this is the second book by the author that I have read that relates to Mark Twain, it is fair to say that the editor has considerable interest and knowledge about the writings of Twain and that definitely serves him well here.
This book of about 200 pages or so is composed of forty excerpts from the writings of Twain involving cats divided into six parts. The first part of the book consists of cats who eat coconuts, smoke cigars, and get blown up in eight excerpts (I), some of them taken from life and some of them fictionalized, and many of them relating to the author's travels. The next ten excerpts, including at least one written by one of Clemens' daughters, look at the way that no home to the author was complete without a cat (II). This extended to the practice of Twain renting cats from neighboring farmers when he was without a cat of his own. The next twelve excerpts deal with the insight of the cats taken from Twian's writings where he attempts to convey his understanding of them to others. After this come three reflections on what dead cats are good for (IV), four examinations of Twain's thoughts on larger cats like lions and tigers (V), and three explorations on there being no such thing as ordinary cats (VI). One of the excerpts included in the book was a discussion from a reporter who wasted a whole day trying to have a conversation about a missing cat of the author's, not realizing that the author was no particular fan of reporters and generally didn't like talking to them.
By and large the excerpts included here were enjoyable to read. One gets a sense from them that Mark Twain was very fond of cats and that he appreciates their prickly and fussy natures very much. Yet although this is the sort of insight that one would expect from a book like this, there are other insights as well that are worthwhile and more unexpected. Twain's love of a good yarn led him to twist even nonfiction stories about cats, so that a story that took place in Hawaii was written as if it happened in Thailand, when the author apparently never visited there. Likewise, Twain was always on the lookout for the goings on of cats, big and small, and animals in general as providing useful stories for him to write. A person who is observant as to stories to write about will seldom lack for material to write about, and that was the case for Clemens, to be sure. There are plenty of touching stories here, such as Twain's fondness for having kittens in the corner pocket and for the names that his cats ended up with, some of which were quite entertaining. This is a worthwhile book for Twain fans as well as cat fans.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
This book of about 200 pages or so is composed of forty excerpts from the writings of Twain involving cats divided into six parts. The first part of the book consists of cats who eat coconuts, smoke cigars, and get blown up in eight excerpts (I), some of them taken from life and some of them fictionalized, and many of them relating to the author's travels. The next ten excerpts, including at least one written by one of Clemens' daughters, look at the way that no home to the author was complete without a cat (II). This extended to the practice of Twain renting cats from neighboring farmers when he was without a cat of his own. The next twelve excerpts deal with the insight of the cats taken from Twian's writings where he attempts to convey his understanding of them to others. After this come three reflections on what dead cats are good for (IV), four examinations of Twain's thoughts on larger cats like lions and tigers (V), and three explorations on there being no such thing as ordinary cats (VI). One of the excerpts included in the book was a discussion from a reporter who wasted a whole day trying to have a conversation about a missing cat of the author's, not realizing that the author was no particular fan of reporters and generally didn't like talking to them.
By and large the excerpts included here were enjoyable to read. One gets a sense from them that Mark Twain was very fond of cats and that he appreciates their prickly and fussy natures very much. Yet although this is the sort of insight that one would expect from a book like this, there are other insights as well that are worthwhile and more unexpected. Twain's love of a good yarn led him to twist even nonfiction stories about cats, so that a story that took place in Hawaii was written as if it happened in Thailand, when the author apparently never visited there. Likewise, Twain was always on the lookout for the goings on of cats, big and small, and animals in general as providing useful stories for him to write. A person who is observant as to stories to write about will seldom lack for material to write about, and that was the case for Clemens, to be sure. There are plenty of touching stories here, such as Twain's fondness for having kittens in the corner pocket and for the names that his cats ended up with, some of which were quite entertaining. This is a worthwhile book for Twain fans as well as cat fans.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
August 27, 2018
I truly appreciated editor Mark Dawidziak's expertise in developing this collection of excerpts from Mark Twain's writings. I enjoyed learning more about the man Mark Twain and his family, and I loved the pictures included in Mark Twain for Cat Lovers. Although the collection did drag out a bit toward the end, I loved most of the writings and stories. Thank you, Mark Dawidziak, for creating this unique collection of new insights into the life of one of America's greatest humorists.
January 21, 2018
For what it is, it's great. It's basically every mention of a cat in Twain's books, short stories, and letters, even if it's only a paragraph. The editor's notes do a good job of contextualizing, and the pictures are quite sweet. You get to know Twain and his family better, and the full stories are very enjoyable.
January 17, 2020
Anyone familiar with Mark Twain's work, even if you haven't read anything since Tom Sawyer back in high school, will appreciate the man's wit. An inveterate cat-lover, Twain has included our feline friends in a great many of his writings, both factual and fictitious. I digested this in bite-sized bits at bed-time. A good and fun read for any equal-opportunity feline-appreciator!
January 6, 2018
A good introduction to Mark Twain and his writing if you have not read any of his novels. This volume relates Mr. Twain's love of cats in stories and snippets from his personal life and his writings. Provided some good laughs.
December 31, 2020
Some charming passages on cats from Mark Twain's life and fiction, plus sketches and photographs. Good bathroom book.
March 28, 2023
Mark Dawidziak writes beautifully (reminiscent of Twain), and he strings together brilliant passages about cats from Mark Twain’s various works.
November 30, 2025
Liked this one better than the Mark Twain for Dog Lovers. Both were good but this one had better (funnier and dearer) stories.
December 9, 2024
Combining Mark Twain snippets with cats creates a winning collection of basically every mention of cats in Mark Twain’s writings from kittens to tigers.
The book also gives insights in how much Twain adored cats which adds to the enjoyment of this singular writer and American institution.
The book also gives insights in how much Twain adored cats which adds to the enjoyment of this singular writer and American institution.
January 27, 2017
Mark Twain For Cat Lovers
I'm not a big Twain fan but I love cats and so did he. Anyone who loves cats can understand the need to just talk about them and their unique personality quirks. This book is a compilation of Twain's cat anecdotes. Most of them are derived from his autobiographical works and there are also vignettes from his fiction works as well as a few notes regarding Mark Twain and his cats from reporters, friends, and family. All of them are very short... sometimes just a sentence or two. And in one case after reading a short scene about a cat from one of his fictional works, there follows his telling of the back story behind the scene.
After reading this I even think his autobiographical accounts may be interesting... or maybe it's just the subject matter of cats. Like I said, I'm not a Twain fan (which is almost sacrilege since half of my blood comes from Hannibal, MO, lol) although he's extremely quotable and I appreciate the humor now that I'm an adult, Many of these stories are humorous. However, the editor that pieced them together is a huge Twain fan and I think sometimes he would excise the cat content without considering that the reader may not fully understand the context from which it came because they've not read everything Twain like he has. It's not quite as good as James Herriot's Cat Stories, but no matter. These anecdotal books give the brain a nice break from long elaborate stories and there are several within that I really liked.
I'm not a big Twain fan but I love cats and so did he. Anyone who loves cats can understand the need to just talk about them and their unique personality quirks. This book is a compilation of Twain's cat anecdotes. Most of them are derived from his autobiographical works and there are also vignettes from his fiction works as well as a few notes regarding Mark Twain and his cats from reporters, friends, and family. All of them are very short... sometimes just a sentence or two. And in one case after reading a short scene about a cat from one of his fictional works, there follows his telling of the back story behind the scene.
After reading this I even think his autobiographical accounts may be interesting... or maybe it's just the subject matter of cats. Like I said, I'm not a Twain fan (which is almost sacrilege since half of my blood comes from Hannibal, MO, lol) although he's extremely quotable and I appreciate the humor now that I'm an adult, Many of these stories are humorous. However, the editor that pieced them together is a huge Twain fan and I think sometimes he would excise the cat content without considering that the reader may not fully understand the context from which it came because they've not read everything Twain like he has. It's not quite as good as James Herriot's Cat Stories, but no matter. These anecdotal books give the brain a nice break from long elaborate stories and there are several within that I really liked.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews