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The Cat Who Covered the World: The Adventures Of Henrietta And Her Foreign Correspondent
Henrietta was an ordinary New York City cat until she ventured overseas with foreign correspondent Christopher S. Wren and his wife and children. Over seventeen years and tens of thousands of miles, she became a plucky, indispensable companion for the reporter as he covered world events in Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, Ottawa, and Johannesburg.
Wren's often hilarious and sometimes poignant account of an American family's adventures crisscrossing the globe shows them coping with chaos in faraway places -- always with the help of their ever-resourceful feline. The result is a charming tale about a spunky, curious pet who earned the right to be ranked among the world's most widely traveled cats.
Wren's often hilarious and sometimes poignant account of an American family's adventures crisscrossing the globe shows them coping with chaos in faraway places -- always with the help of their ever-resourceful feline. The result is a charming tale about a spunky, curious pet who earned the right to be ranked among the world's most widely traveled cats.
204 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
March 2, 2019
Christopher Wren was a foreign correspondent for The New York Times for many years. He worked in Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, Johannesburg, and Ottawa. And for eighteen years, he and his family shared their travels to far-flung homes with a cat named Henrietta. (Officially, Henrietta Meow Meow Pussycat Wren, named by the children who were age six and nearly three when she first arrived.)
This is her story, and it was delightful. She joined the family when a colleague needed to give away some unexpected kittens, and offered a bonus with each one. It was the bonus that caught Wren's attention:
The cat arrived with a bottle of Scotch.
She was just a tiny thing, but naturally quickly became a part of the family and when Wren received his coveted overseas posting, there was no doubt at all (at least for the children) what would happen with Henrietta. Of course she would go too, and she did.
And adapted herself to the wandering life extremely well, I might add. Four years in Moscow, then stretches in Cairo (where she had a dangerous adventure practically the first day!) and around the world from there. The cat's presence smoothed some situations and made others somewhat goofy (imagine carrying a huge bag of cat litter to China!) and through it all the family loved her and made sure she was healthy and happy.
It is a funny book, with plenty of bits of general cat trivia from each country woven throughout. I enjoyed it and I think any cat-lover would also.
This is her story, and it was delightful. She joined the family when a colleague needed to give away some unexpected kittens, and offered a bonus with each one. It was the bonus that caught Wren's attention:
The cat arrived with a bottle of Scotch.
She was just a tiny thing, but naturally quickly became a part of the family and when Wren received his coveted overseas posting, there was no doubt at all (at least for the children) what would happen with Henrietta. Of course she would go too, and she did.
And adapted herself to the wandering life extremely well, I might add. Four years in Moscow, then stretches in Cairo (where she had a dangerous adventure practically the first day!) and around the world from there. The cat's presence smoothed some situations and made others somewhat goofy (imagine carrying a huge bag of cat litter to China!) and through it all the family loved her and made sure she was healthy and happy.
It is a funny book, with plenty of bits of general cat trivia from each country woven throughout. I enjoyed it and I think any cat-lover would also.
April 5, 2020
This is a well-written book! The author tells about his cat, Henrietta, as she travels the world for 18 years with their family. Gives info. about several countries and major cities!
January 2, 2025
I started my love of animals with cats. Honestly. I had several cats. My first cat was called Patches, a black and white tuxedo looking girl. She was with me when I first moved out on my own and lived with me to my move to the Central Coast in California. Which means she was there for my two children. She also saw me add more cats to the family, over time.
I loved cats because they could be independent, curious, affectionate (when they wanted something!), friendly to the right people, gentle, inquisitive, and smart.
When I added dogs to my life, the cats said enough, and moved on. Literally. (Most passed peacefully.)
On to the review.
Premise: Christopher Wren is a traveling journalist who takes his cat with him. Because Henrietta the cat owns him. So this travelogue is not so much about the beautiful cities they go to like Moscow, Paris, Beijing or Tokyo. It is about Henrietta and her adventures.
This is an entertaining and charming memoir that covers 17 years of this busy cat's life and this wonderful accommodating family.
Her escapes. Food steals. Yowling. Flight attendant moments. Taxi driver adventures. So much to appreciate about traveling experiences from a very different perspective!
I loved cats because they could be independent, curious, affectionate (when they wanted something!), friendly to the right people, gentle, inquisitive, and smart.
When I added dogs to my life, the cats said enough, and moved on. Literally. (Most passed peacefully.)
On to the review.
Premise: Christopher Wren is a traveling journalist who takes his cat with him. Because Henrietta the cat owns him. So this travelogue is not so much about the beautiful cities they go to like Moscow, Paris, Beijing or Tokyo. It is about Henrietta and her adventures.
This is an entertaining and charming memoir that covers 17 years of this busy cat's life and this wonderful accommodating family.
Her escapes. Food steals. Yowling. Flight attendant moments. Taxi driver adventures. So much to appreciate about traveling experiences from a very different perspective!
September 13, 2013
Wren is a foreign correspondent for the New York Times, and this is a light-hearted romp through the adventures of his cat Henrietta (and her human family) while posted to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, Ottawa, New York, and Johannesburg. We learn the ins and outs of finding cat food -- and cat litter -- in each of these places, as well as how the humans cope with changes in language, culture, bureaucracy, and cuisine. This charming memoir will cheer up any cat lover.
August 26, 2019
This was a fun read for cat lovers. However, as a fellow traveler, I wanted more of a sense of the place being explored.
May 30, 2017
Henrietta was blessed. She led an amazing life so full of adventure. And, as animals always do, she taught her humans the meaning of love.
As an ethical vegan, a couple of the stories were difficult for me to read. One in particular left me wondering how her well-educated humans couldn't anticipate the deadly outcome which I could see coming the moment the rabbit arrived at their home. But like so many others, theirs was a pet-one-eat-the-others family.
Overlooking those couple of issues that were personally hard for me, the book was a delight to read. I thoroughly loved living vicariously through Henrietta as she traveled the world and taught her family about the value of life, as well.
As an ethical vegan, a couple of the stories were difficult for me to read. One in particular left me wondering how her well-educated humans couldn't anticipate the deadly outcome which I could see coming the moment the rabbit arrived at their home. But like so many others, theirs was a pet-one-eat-the-others family.
Overlooking those couple of issues that were personally hard for me, the book was a delight to read. I thoroughly loved living vicariously through Henrietta as she traveled the world and taught her family about the value of life, as well.
August 3, 2020
2020 bk 256. Henrietta hated air travel, but managed to go with her family to Russia, China, France (en transit), Egypt, China, Japan, Canada, and South Africa in what was probably the most exciting of her nine lives. Along the way, she permits the author to describe the world events of the 80's and 90's when he was a foreign correspondent for the New York Times. While Wren had exciting moments (how many people do you know kicked out of Russia for ostensibly spying?), Henrietta found her way into the neighborhoods and hearts of people who might otherwise not have spoken to the reporter. In her time she spent a month lost in Cairo, facing down the famous Egyptian rat, learned to love Chinese food, went through a period of malnutrition when served a solid diet of canned cat food, and watched the end of apartheid. This was one fun way to review the history of my times.
May 1, 2019
This is the right book to cheer up a cat lover and interest a history major. It was such a fun tidy book.
January 10, 2009
My dad was college roommates with the author, which is how I found out about this book. It's a lot of fun.
August 7, 2023
HENRIETTA…some good cat world tour fun…but sometimes it was a bit all over the place and the author would say something that was just so…why is this in a book about your cat
December 19, 2024
I would absolutely LOVE to take my kittens on my travels. The love this family showered Henrietta with was adorable. I love how fortunate the Wren family was to share their lives with her.
June 1, 2017
While I'm usually a dog person, Henrietta's story intrigued me as it provided a unique look at a family's frequent efforts to intercalate itself into various cultures of the world, as anyone could write about how the human members are treated, but few people have taken their pet cat with them to live on 4 continents over the course of the cat's 15 or so years of life and know first-hand the challenges and benefits that may be encountered. Wren is a foreign correspondent for the New York Times and thus is sent to cover newsworthy areas of the world, from Russia before the breakup of the USSR, to Egypt during Anwar Sadat's Presidency, to South Africa at the end of apartheid and Mandela's release from prison. Naturally, he wrote about all of these events for the newspaper, but during a slow news period, he filed a story about his experiences taking Henrietta on these overseas assignments and got more reader response than any other piece to that point.
If it was up to Wren, admittedly not a cat person, Henrietta never would have traveled the world, as he would have followed the precedent set by his fellow journalists and found her a new home with a colleague or friend before departing. However, he had two young children who had become attached to the cat, and he and his wife felt she would help them adjust to their new life in a foreign country. Therefore, Henrietta went everywhere with them; on plane trips, sometimes treated like royalty, other times like cargo; to hotels, including one that quarantined her in the basement yet her howls could be heard even outside; and especially to the family's new residences, which provided a variety of culinary options, from imported fish and caviar to rodents and giant cockroaches.
Overall an enjoyable book that educated me on the cultures of the countries where Wren and his family lived in the late 1970s through early 1990s, better than any boring history book that would discuss the main events but not really show what life was like for the citizens and especially foreigners there to witness them.
If it was up to Wren, admittedly not a cat person, Henrietta never would have traveled the world, as he would have followed the precedent set by his fellow journalists and found her a new home with a colleague or friend before departing. However, he had two young children who had become attached to the cat, and he and his wife felt she would help them adjust to their new life in a foreign country. Therefore, Henrietta went everywhere with them; on plane trips, sometimes treated like royalty, other times like cargo; to hotels, including one that quarantined her in the basement yet her howls could be heard even outside; and especially to the family's new residences, which provided a variety of culinary options, from imported fish and caviar to rodents and giant cockroaches.
Overall an enjoyable book that educated me on the cultures of the countries where Wren and his family lived in the late 1970s through early 1990s, better than any boring history book that would discuss the main events but not really show what life was like for the citizens and especially foreigners there to witness them.
November 16, 2013
Don’t read this if you don’t like cats. Don’t read this if you hold the following preconceptions about cats: a) cats don’t like humans, b) cats are intellectually challenged, c) cats like to kill babies by stealing their breath d) you’re a scaredy cat, e) you think cats should be forbidden to travel to foreign places that you will never find the money or time to visit. However, Wren’s memoir of Henrietta’s adventures might be the perfect gift for that cat-loving friend/ spouse/sibling/grumpy co-worker into whose good graces you wish to return.
I thought my feline companion, Maddie, would be interested in Henrietta’s adventures, so I related some of Wren’s stories about this jet-setting half-Siamese and the things she got up to in Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, South Africa, Canada and China. How she befriended Andrei Sakharov, how she nearly starved to death in Cairo, how much fun she had running about the cabins of jetliners, and how she had to stay off the streets of Beijing lest she become someone’s dinner. Dinner. Of all the exciting adventures it was food that caught Maddie’s attention the most.
“Caviar? She ate caviar?” her big eyes blurted out.
“Yes,” I said. “And salmon and sturgeon and milk flown into Moscow from Finland and Parma ham from Italy.”
“Really? She got all those fancy foods when ordinary Russians had to line up for days just for a loaf of stale bread and a carrot?”
“Yup,” I said. “Maddie, I had no idea you had a social conscience.”
She stared at me, hard. Her eyes beaming contempt.
“You got the wrong job, ma!” She got up, stretched out and began to walk away.
“But, Maddie, I give you ham, Black Forest ham. The expensive kind with no nitrates. NO NITRATES MADDIE.”
Her butt toward me, she swished her tale, angrily.
“You get organic kibble, Maddie. And it’s gluten free. GLUTEN FREE, Maddie. Don’t walk away from me.”
“Wrong job, ma. Wrrroooonnngggg job!”
I thought my feline companion, Maddie, would be interested in Henrietta’s adventures, so I related some of Wren’s stories about this jet-setting half-Siamese and the things she got up to in Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, South Africa, Canada and China. How she befriended Andrei Sakharov, how she nearly starved to death in Cairo, how much fun she had running about the cabins of jetliners, and how she had to stay off the streets of Beijing lest she become someone’s dinner. Dinner. Of all the exciting adventures it was food that caught Maddie’s attention the most.
“Caviar? She ate caviar?” her big eyes blurted out.
“Yes,” I said. “And salmon and sturgeon and milk flown into Moscow from Finland and Parma ham from Italy.”
“Really? She got all those fancy foods when ordinary Russians had to line up for days just for a loaf of stale bread and a carrot?”
“Yup,” I said. “Maddie, I had no idea you had a social conscience.”
She stared at me, hard. Her eyes beaming contempt.
“You got the wrong job, ma!” She got up, stretched out and began to walk away.
“But, Maddie, I give you ham, Black Forest ham. The expensive kind with no nitrates. NO NITRATES MADDIE.”
Her butt toward me, she swished her tale, angrily.
“You get organic kibble, Maddie. And it’s gluten free. GLUTEN FREE, Maddie. Don’t walk away from me.”
“Wrong job, ma. Wrrroooonnngggg job!”
April 16, 2011
I don't read pet stories very often. I can't handle when the pet dies.
I thought that The Cat Who Covered the World sounded fun though. Henrietta, the main catracheter (ha), was owned by a family of a New York Times reporter, so she followed them around the world. There were funny parts of the story. When the Wren family lived Moscow she was able to eat Russian caviar.
Henrietta sounded like a fun cat, but I really had a hard time liking her owners. We don't let our cat out because I'm worried she get hit by car or munched on by one of the many wild creatures around here. Henrietta's owners let her out in Beijing and Cairo. She disappeared for a month in Cairo before she showed up near starving.
It was a fun story, but I was left a bit disconcerted by the lack of care that I felt like Henrietta's owners gave her.
I thought that The Cat Who Covered the World sounded fun though. Henrietta, the main catracheter (ha), was owned by a family of a New York Times reporter, so she followed them around the world. There were funny parts of the story. When the Wren family lived Moscow she was able to eat Russian caviar.
Henrietta sounded like a fun cat, but I really had a hard time liking her owners. We don't let our cat out because I'm worried she get hit by car or munched on by one of the many wild creatures around here. Henrietta's owners let her out in Beijing and Cairo. She disappeared for a month in Cairo before she showed up near starving.
It was a fun story, but I was left a bit disconcerted by the lack of care that I felt like Henrietta's owners gave her.
April 22, 2014
My sister lent me this book to read. Her cats had urinated on it at some point so there was a little something extra that made me feel like Henrietta was right there with me. Now, I have barely been able to manage a fifteen minute car ride to the vet's for rabies shots in case my own cats happen to survive a fox attack. The fact that this cat lived through car rides, planes and getting lost in various countries may be enough right there to warrant writing a book. This unusual upbringing also affected Wren's children, who developed wanderlust and were disappointed in American kids' consuming interest of their own welfare over world events. This book is worth your time, but just find a clean copy to read.
July 7, 2019
This is a memoir by Christopher S Wren that has two focuses: travelling the world as a foreign correspondent for the New York Times, and his cat Henrietta. He and his family live in Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, Johannesburg, and Ottawa; they also travel through France and Great Britain. The details about all of these locations make me want to hop on a plane!
Henrietta is adorable. All of the anecdotes about her make me want to pet my own kitties. I was a bit appalled at how they allowed her to roam foreign lands so freely and how they fed her whatever was lying around-- neither of these things is good for kitties! However, she lived a good, long life, so I guess it was okay.
If you like travel and cats, or just cats, you'll definitely like this book!
Henrietta is adorable. All of the anecdotes about her make me want to pet my own kitties. I was a bit appalled at how they allowed her to roam foreign lands so freely and how they fed her whatever was lying around-- neither of these things is good for kitties! However, she lived a good, long life, so I guess it was okay.
If you like travel and cats, or just cats, you'll definitely like this book!
September 25, 2012
Purchased on the fly and enjoyed highly. I'm not an avid reader of the New York Times and have not read Wren's articles, but his writing style really clicked with me. This is an ideal book for any cat lover, with heaps extra bonus points if the reader is also a travel enthusiast. And the Meilo So illustrations were whimsical and perfect.
Three and a half stars, rounded up to four possibly because of the illustrations. I had a lot of fun reading this, but I won't be likely to have the urge to read it again.
Three and a half stars, rounded up to four possibly because of the illustrations. I had a lot of fun reading this, but I won't be likely to have the urge to read it again.
June 22, 2009
Interesting and somewhat entertaining because of the countries lived in, but I didn't get the sense the author (or even the family) was a true cat lover. Given the fact that the cat was allowed to roam free in whatever city or hotel/apartment/home they were in, cross busy streets, disappeared in Egypt for weeks, and given MILK on a regular basis, suggests either they were terribly ignorant and/or the author embellished quite a bit.
October 14, 2009
my friend claire lent me this book. usually i don't read animal stories because the animal in question always dies at the end. Guess what? henrietta dies, but she has quite a life traveling around with the family of a ny times foreign correspondent. it is not as long or as involved as the last book i read, the man who loved china, but it is quite delightful and enjoyable.
January 15, 2013
Much better than the "average" cat story, because the author is a writer for the New York Times--he is smart and funny and so is this book.
Most cat books end with the cat dying...and I end up crying, which I don't like. In this one, yes, the cat dies at the end, but the author tells that part so quickly that I was able to read it without tears. That's a good thing!
Most cat books end with the cat dying...and I end up crying, which I don't like. In this one, yes, the cat dies at the end, but the author tells that part so quickly that I was able to read it without tears. That's a good thing!
April 14, 2007
A very fun memoir of sorts by a NYTimes foreign correspondent about his traveling cat. A must-read for any cat lover, and quite an interesting look at life in several foreign countries as well. Reading this made me want a cat.
September 20, 2010
Supping on caviar in Moscow, getting lost in Cairo, writing the Christmas letter in Ottawa, Henrietta was a "worldly" cat who accompanied the Wren family around the world. Enjoyable story, told with a great sense of humor.
August 27, 2014
If you love a cat, or have ever loved a cat, or have ever loved someone who has loved a cat this is a must read. Such a well written story detailing the adventures of a world traveling family and their beloved Henrietta.
October 26, 2017
I love books like this! In the beginning I didn't like the author and his anti-feline feelings. Thank goodness he was convinced to change them by none other than Miss Henrietta! I enjoyed seeing different cultures through a cat's eye!
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November 4, 2018This book is a lot of fun to read. I love the authors sense of humor. I love cats and I love reading about them. I was very touched by the love the author and his family had for their cat. I cannot imagine life without cats, or dogs, or books about them.
May 28, 2019
For anyone who has ever had a cat or for that matter a dog and traveled with them, this book certainly resonates. A delightful true story. You regret never meeting Henrietta.
July 11, 2019
The adventures of Henrietta and her foreign correspondence family traveling to Moscow, Cairo, Bejing, Ottawa, and Johannesburg
August 3, 2019
Just a silly, light read but interesting! Reminded me of my Charlie Kitty & our travels together.
August 21, 2020
I don’t think this was the book for me. I always get so excited about nonfiction books, but then I start reading them and they’re usually so dry. This was definitely no exception, but I had bigger issues with it. I can’t even explain how nervous it made me that they just let Henrietta wander all over the place. I mean it’s one thing when they’re living somewhere, but why would you do that when you’re on vacation??? Especially when she’s disappeared and come back after a long time before. What if she disappears while you’re on vacation and doesn’t come back in time?? And I know they say that animals know how to find their way home in a way we might not understand, but does that really apply when you’re moving all over the world? How is Henrietta supposed to know how to find her way home when she doesn’t know that this new place is home yet? Obviously he’s writing this after the fact and he knows that everything works out, but I can’t even explain how stressful this was to read. I was also stressed because of the way they had to move their stuff. Some of it went on a plane by itself and some of it went on a boat by itself and some of it got sent back to America to be put in storage and not all of their stuff made it each place each time. I am very attached to my belongings, so I can’t even imagine having to ship them across the world and hope everything shows up. I feel like, reading this, I could definitely tell that the author was a journalist for a living. His writing was a little bit pretentious and overdone a lot of the time. I had a feeling Henrietta’s death was coming, but I still wasn’t prepared to read about it. And it wasn’t fun to hear about the cats they got to replace her after she was gone. I don’t think they shouldn’t have moved on, I just didn’t like reading about it. This was interesting and I enjoyed getting to read about a different kind of lifestyle than the one I have, but ultimately this just wasn’t my cup of tea.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2025
Henrietta spent 18 years living with Christopher Wren and his family as the traveled the world. A writer for the New York Times, Wren was stationed in Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, Ottawa, Johannesburg, and New York City. His wife, kids, and Henrietta moved with him from place to place and she (the cat) often explored those cities on foot, explored airplanes while in flight, and generally lived more like a human child than a feline one. Wren shares many of those adventures in his wonderful book, The Cat Who Covered the World: The Adventures of Henrietta and her Foreign Correspondent.
I had spotted this book on my daughter’s bookshelf for years and finally grabbed it. I’m so glad I did. Wren writes with a fun sense of humor: “I’m no longer awestruck when people tell me what cute tricks their cat has been taught, because there isn’t that much worthwhile you can teach a cat that it doesn’t already know. It would be helpful if your cat learned to program the VCR, or could surf the Internet or sort out the intricacies of hedge funds in the world of high finance, especially if it earned enough to cover the cost of niblets and litter. But the primal compact only requires cats to earn their keep by exterminating mice, and it amazes me how well they continue to keep their side of the bargain when given half a chance.”
The book is also a great snapshot of the world in the 1980s and 90s. His insights into pre-Perestroika USSR, post Cultural Revolution, China, and Apartheid South Africa were great reminders of a dysfunctional world especially as our current world seems to be lining up for a slip ‘n’ slide back to those same mistakes.
It’s a great read.
I had spotted this book on my daughter’s bookshelf for years and finally grabbed it. I’m so glad I did. Wren writes with a fun sense of humor: “I’m no longer awestruck when people tell me what cute tricks their cat has been taught, because there isn’t that much worthwhile you can teach a cat that it doesn’t already know. It would be helpful if your cat learned to program the VCR, or could surf the Internet or sort out the intricacies of hedge funds in the world of high finance, especially if it earned enough to cover the cost of niblets and litter. But the primal compact only requires cats to earn their keep by exterminating mice, and it amazes me how well they continue to keep their side of the bargain when given half a chance.”
The book is also a great snapshot of the world in the 1980s and 90s. His insights into pre-Perestroika USSR, post Cultural Revolution, China, and Apartheid South Africa were great reminders of a dysfunctional world especially as our current world seems to be lining up for a slip ‘n’ slide back to those same mistakes.
It’s a great read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews