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Honorable Cat
Photographs, essays, and poems explore the relationship between man and feline, and describe the personality, behavior, idiosyncrasies, and habits of the domestic pet
159 pages, Hardcover
First published November 13, 1972
2 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
Paul Gallico
185 books318 followersPaul William Gallico was born in New York City, on 26th July, 1897. His father was an Italian, and his mother came from Austria; they emigrated to New York in 1895.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 3, 2019
I have always been and will continue to be a big fan of Paul Galico. Jennie is particularly wonderful amongst many. This book,however, is non fiction and presents in my mind, a very typical view of a cat and its behaviour. Personally I have never ever experienced anything other than my cats coming when I call them and showing gentle love, affection and loyalty following me in much of the way you would expect from a dog with whom we also share our home. The poems in the second half of the book are a redeeming factor together with the beautiful photographs accompanying each poem.
January 16, 2014
You MUST read this book.
March 1, 2015
The photos are beautiful and sweet, the poems are adorable, and Paul Gallico's insights in to the psyche of cats is so wonderfully enlightening!
January 4, 2015
--My lives with Cats and What They Have Taught Me
--Ailurophiles and Ailurophobes
--Cats versus the Competition
--Beauty
--Are Cats Womany, and Vice Versa
--How Cruel Are Cats?
--They See through Us
--We, the Chosen
--Strays
--The Mixed Blessing or Not Entirely
--Honourable Us
--Love
--Honourable Cat
--The Chair
--Error
--Butterflies Were Made to Play With
--Misery's Fence
--Speech
--Spying
--Rendezvous
--The Communal Dish
--Jewellery
--The Door
--Always Pause on the Threshold
--Oh How Difficult It Is to Be Young
--Birds
--The Wizard
--Statement
--Pride
--Tether
--Judgement
--'And Lead Us Not Into...'
--Morning
--I Should Have Brought My Can Opener
--Camouflage
--Counter camouflage
--I Lurk
--Confession
--Good News
--The Dandelion
--The Plaint of the Calico Cat
--The Mystery
--Dialogue
--Short Poem Descriptive of Someone in a Hurry with Something Important on His Mind
--Query
--The Secret
--Journey to Nowhere
--The Ballad of Tough Tom
--Silence
--Sleep
--Set Piece
--U.F.O.
--Night Watcher
--Trio
--Chocolate Box
--The Haunted Rug
--Standoff
--Tyger?
--Application
--The Insult
--Man
--The High Place
--Run Kitten Run
--Wiegenlied
--The Catnip Dance
--Invitation
--Question
--Chimera
--Not on the Bed
--Rich Cat, Poor Cat
--Bath Call
--Surprise
--Dinner Lineup
--Early Washing
--Ailurophiles and Ailurophobes
--Cats versus the Competition
--Beauty
--Are Cats Womany, and Vice Versa
--How Cruel Are Cats?
--They See through Us
--We, the Chosen
--Strays
--The Mixed Blessing or Not Entirely
--Honourable Us
--Love
--Honourable Cat
--The Chair
--Error
--Butterflies Were Made to Play With
--Misery's Fence
--Speech
--Spying
--Rendezvous
--The Communal Dish
--Jewellery
--The Door
--Always Pause on the Threshold
--Oh How Difficult It Is to Be Young
--Birds
--The Wizard
--Statement
--Pride
--Tether
--Judgement
--'And Lead Us Not Into...'
--Morning
--I Should Have Brought My Can Opener
--Camouflage
--Counter camouflage
--I Lurk
--Confession
--Good News
--The Dandelion
--The Plaint of the Calico Cat
--The Mystery
--Dialogue
--Short Poem Descriptive of Someone in a Hurry with Something Important on His Mind
--Query
--The Secret
--Journey to Nowhere
--The Ballad of Tough Tom
--Silence
--Sleep
--Set Piece
--U.F.O.
--Night Watcher
--Trio
--Chocolate Box
--The Haunted Rug
--Standoff
--Tyger?
--Application
--The Insult
--Man
--The High Place
--Run Kitten Run
--Wiegenlied
--The Catnip Dance
--Invitation
--Question
--Chimera
--Not on the Bed
--Rich Cat, Poor Cat
--Bath Call
--Surprise
--Dinner Lineup
--Early Washing
January 12, 2009
I'm quite intrigued that this beloved book from childhood is penned by the same author of The Poseidon Adventure! However, I have not read the Poseidon Adventure, and perhaps I should, as the author of a Gallico site, Martin Benson, describes it as a 'cracking yarn'. http://www.paulgallico.info/
January 10, 2008
A book for those who love cats: charming pictures and poetry in praise of handsome felines.
December 19, 2020
I found this book on the south bank. It contains some very 1970s photographs of cats and some pretty daft poems about the cats. My friends and I loved every minute of it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews