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Literary Cats
A light-hearted journey through the history of literary cats.
From Puss in Boots to T. S. Eliot’s Jellicles, cats have long inspired an incredible range of fiction, memoir, and poetry. This book celebrates the connections between our favorite feline friends and the literary imagination, diving into ancient myths and fables, much-loved children’s books, classic literature, and contemporary novels.
Featuring famous fictional characters such as Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat, Beatrice Potter’s Tom Kitten, and Edgar Allan Poe’s Pluto, Literary Cats explores the role of felines across literary genres. This light-hearted history also uncovers their domestication, early cultural beginnings, and religious associations. The collection also reveals the history of several real-life cats such as Bob, the famous London street cat, as well as cats belonging to authors Ernest Hemingway, Patricia Highsmith, Muriel Spark, and more. A section on cats in world literature introduces narrator cats and cat companions from Japan, Eastern Europe, France, Greece, Germany, and Finland, demonstrating their enduring worldwide appeal.
From Puss in Boots to T. S. Eliot’s Jellicles, cats have long inspired an incredible range of fiction, memoir, and poetry. This book celebrates the connections between our favorite feline friends and the literary imagination, diving into ancient myths and fables, much-loved children’s books, classic literature, and contemporary novels.
Featuring famous fictional characters such as Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat, Beatrice Potter’s Tom Kitten, and Edgar Allan Poe’s Pluto, Literary Cats explores the role of felines across literary genres. This light-hearted history also uncovers their domestication, early cultural beginnings, and religious associations. The collection also reveals the history of several real-life cats such as Bob, the famous London street cat, as well as cats belonging to authors Ernest Hemingway, Patricia Highsmith, Muriel Spark, and more. A section on cats in world literature introduces narrator cats and cat companions from Japan, Eastern Europe, France, Greece, Germany, and Finland, demonstrating their enduring worldwide appeal.
202 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2022
9 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
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November 16, 2024This book is a large shallow tray filled with cream. At it's best it is charming, when not at it's best it feels like a neverending series of precis of books which have cats in them.
The book emerged out of a British library exhibition mewing and scratching at carpets.
That the author's think that writers and cats are a good match suggests that their experience of cats dates from that happy age of typewriters, the modern cat is so keen to either sleep on laptops and keyboards or walk across them, determined to add their say to the page, that they are an impediment and challenge to the homeworker.
I noticed that according to this book, the early Japanese stories with cats tend to depict them as sinister beings, while in modern Japanese literature, they may still be magical but tend to be positive forces in the lives of the protagonists. I wondered what brought this change about, possibly it was part of a broader realignment in Japanese metaphysics?
I also noticed that of the dozen or so books mentioned here that I had actually read, I had mostly forgotten that they had cats in them. Ok, so there is a cat in "Ulysses", but not in the "Odyssey", however it is neither significant not central, and that's the issue with this book, it doesn't discriminate, it has some great literary cats and some odd literary cat lovers in it, but also a lot more forgettable beasts.
The book emerged out of a British library exhibition mewing and scratching at carpets.
That the author's think that writers and cats are a good match suggests that their experience of cats dates from that happy age of typewriters, the modern cat is so keen to either sleep on laptops and keyboards or walk across them, determined to add their say to the page, that they are an impediment and challenge to the homeworker.
I noticed that according to this book, the early Japanese stories with cats tend to depict them as sinister beings, while in modern Japanese literature, they may still be magical but tend to be positive forces in the lives of the protagonists. I wondered what brought this change about, possibly it was part of a broader realignment in Japanese metaphysics?
I also noticed that of the dozen or so books mentioned here that I had actually read, I had mostly forgotten that they had cats in them. Ok, so there is a cat in "Ulysses", but not in the "Odyssey", however it is neither significant not central, and that's the issue with this book, it doesn't discriminate, it has some great literary cats and some odd literary cat lovers in it, but also a lot more forgettable beasts.
November 23, 2024
This is a book about cats in literature, and it delivers. What's not to like? Even if I've never owned a cat (my mum and sister are nervous when faced with one for some reason), I plan on doing so as soon as I'm financially independent and have a home myself :D
Light, accessible and informative, the authors take us on a literary journey over time and locations to meet fictional cats in both popular and lesser-known stories. I especially enjoyed the chapter about Cats in Poetry, how cats' natural grace, aloofness coupled with affection, and their bewildering antics have inspired poets including Thomas Hardy, Christina Rossetti and Margaret Atwood. It's wonderful to see childhood characters like Beatrix Potter's cats, Crookshanks and the Cheshire Cat included, though personally I'd add Gobbolino the Witch's Cat as well. I'm happy that 'If cats disappeared from the world' made the list in the last chapter 'Cats in Translation', as I remember reading it as a sobbing wreck TT.
It's interesting to know a lot of writers have cats as companions.
JD Salinger sent photos of his cats to his friend. Ray Bradbury's house was inhibited with up to 22 cats, and his favourite sat on his manuscripts. Ernest Hemingway's cat Snow White has an extra toe, and her descendants (with an extra toe) still live at his former home, now a museum. In his short story 'Cat in the Rain', one character voiced that 'I want a cat. I want a cat now.' How relatable.
As Joyce Carol Oates said,
Anyone can relate?
An enjoyable read that I'll recommend to any readers and writers who are also cat lovers.
PS Some poems I'd love to return to:
Pangur Ban -- translation from Irish by Robin Flower or Seamus Heaney
Ode on the death of a favourite cat drowned in a tub of goldfishes -- Thomas Gray
Ghost Cat, Blackie in Antarctica, Mourning for Cats -- Margaret Atwood
Milk for the cat -- Harold Munro
The cat improvement co. -- Brian W. Aldiss
The cat's newspaper -- Garnett junior
Light, accessible and informative, the authors take us on a literary journey over time and locations to meet fictional cats in both popular and lesser-known stories. I especially enjoyed the chapter about Cats in Poetry, how cats' natural grace, aloofness coupled with affection, and their bewildering antics have inspired poets including Thomas Hardy, Christina Rossetti and Margaret Atwood. It's wonderful to see childhood characters like Beatrix Potter's cats, Crookshanks and the Cheshire Cat included, though personally I'd add Gobbolino the Witch's Cat as well. I'm happy that 'If cats disappeared from the world' made the list in the last chapter 'Cats in Translation', as I remember reading it as a sobbing wreck TT.
It's interesting to know a lot of writers have cats as companions.
Perhaps this is why many authors turn to companions who will tolerate their antisocial lifestyles, the hours spent at the desk, and the mood swings -- from frustration at a problematic plot point to the joy following a well-crafted sentence. Such a companion is often a cat.
JD Salinger sent photos of his cats to his friend. Ray Bradbury's house was inhibited with up to 22 cats, and his favourite sat on his manuscripts. Ernest Hemingway's cat Snow White has an extra toe, and her descendants (with an extra toe) still live at his former home, now a museum. In his short story 'Cat in the Rain', one character voiced that 'I want a cat. I want a cat now.' How relatable.
As Joyce Carol Oates said,
'I write so much because my cat sits on my lap. She purrs so I don't want to get up. She's so much more calming than my husband.
Anyone can relate?
An enjoyable read that I'll recommend to any readers and writers who are also cat lovers.
PS Some poems I'd love to return to:
Pangur Ban -- translation from Irish by Robin Flower or Seamus Heaney
Ode on the death of a favourite cat drowned in a tub of goldfishes -- Thomas Gray
Ghost Cat, Blackie in Antarctica, Mourning for Cats -- Margaret Atwood
Milk for the cat -- Harold Munro
The cat improvement co. -- Brian W. Aldiss
The cat's newspaper -- Garnett junior
July 21, 2023
a wide-ranging, curious compendium. drawback was the prose which swung between immature in style to rigidly essay-like. that peeve aside it was an enlightening read.
January 19, 2023
This is a bias review :3
October 8, 2023
A whistle-stop tour through famous cats in books, both fiction and non-fiction, including a large number I hadn't previously heard of (which means my to-read list is even longer!) If you like cats and books, as I do, then this is a delight.
October 20, 2023
This is going to be so useful for my diss! Thoroughly enjoyable read as well
May 27, 2025
Fun and fascinating, if nowhere near complete, exploration of the use of felines in literature. It's not surprising that we humans have been enamored with them since the beginning of writing. (Although they can represent our darker sides and fears, too.) The best thing about this book is the list of new books and poems and essays to try that I came away with.
March 2, 2026
If you're wondering where cats appear in famous literary works, poems, and author's lives, this is a great reference book. The examples are generally 'in this book, a cat appears in this way' with perhaps a quote. There isn't so much analysis about cats' appearances and it's not an exhaustive list, but it may interest avoid cat lovers 🐱
December 27, 2022
A delightful and entertaining book about cats in literature and books.
From Puss in Boot to Greebo, from literature to entertainment.
A perfect and lovely read for any cat lover
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
From Puss in Boot to Greebo, from literature to entertainment.
A perfect and lovely read for any cat lover
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
January 11, 2023
Loved reading this so much!!!!! Basically a list of all the cats you can read about in the world of literature, sorted by book type such as poetry, kid section, classics… The children section part is the one I enjoyed the most, warmed my heart <3
January 4, 2023
Cute. But a whirlwind tour. The kids book section was adorable.
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May 10, 2023This would be a fun book to dip into occasionally but was not fun to read through from front to back.
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July 28, 2023Thoroughly enjoyed. It's a well-researched book, not the fluffy kind hahaha.
July 27, 2024
My favourite section was on cats in poetry, and I thought the books for children were wonderful.
December 18, 2024
this was so so cute omg - i hope my cat gets in a book one day
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews