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The Big Book of Cats
J.C. Suares' best-selling series of feline and canine-inspired books have charmed and delighted dog and cat lovers through the past decade. From funny cats to heroic dogs, cool cats to dogs in love, and cats in the city to dogs in Hollywood, readers have adored them all. The Big Book of Cats and The Big Book of Dogs presents the best of Suares' series of books. These 384-page compendiums each include over 230 black and white images by such well-known animal photographers as Eve Arnold, Tanya Braganti, Elliot Erwitt, John Drysdale, Martine Franck, Herbert List, and Robin Schwartz. The photographs are paired with excerpts from such diverse writers as Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, and Sigmund Freud, as well as personal stories and anecdotes. From the cat that fell in love with a parrot, to an Australian Shepard who rescued tornado survivors, The Big Book of Cats and The Big Book of Dogs are filled with the loveable and the famous, the hilarious and the brave. Enlivened with Suares' whimsical drawings, The Big Book of Cats and The Big Book of Dogs are a remarkable tribute to our feline and canine friends, and are sure to warm the hearts of dog and cat lovers everywhere.
- GenresArtPhotography
378 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2004
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About the author
J.C. Suares
77 books4 followersJean-Claude Suàres (March 30, 1942 – July 30, 2013) was an artist, illustrator, editor, and creative consultant to many publications, and the first Op-Ed page art director at The New York Times.
More information: Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 22, 2017
I love black and white photography. I love cats. Maybe you could even call me out-and-out cat crazy, having been surrounded by them and revelling in their fluffy company since my day of birth. When abroad, I get homesick because of missing the cats.
Last summer, one of the two feline sisters that were living with us for 17 years – longer than my children – died. Although I had decided to warrant the surviving old lady cat a nice and peaceful retirement on her own, my family thought of cheering us – her and me - up by gifting me a kitten for my birthday. We named her Bella because of her cow-like black and white fur (Bella is a common cow name where we live). If not ruining the furniture, running after her own large squirrel-like tail or simply being her adorable self, Bella expresses her delight in books – how not to love her?
Ultimately, as a cat lover I had imagined to enjoy this collection of about 200 cat photographs blended with anecdotes, poetry and fiction on their behaviour, nature and character a lot more than I actually did. Most anecdotes turned out rather bland and forgettable. Only a few lines and photographs stood out, the snippets of the selected cat-related literary citations feeling like meagre crumbs thrown haphazardly at the reader, in general too short to be compelling or meaningful. Comprising quotations from Verlaine, Hemingway, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Burroughs, Kipling, Prévert and others, it were the observations from Colette (From Barks and Purrs) which came closest to the feline spirit:
One would think me asleep because the narrow slit made by my parted eyelids, seems but the continuation of that velvety line, that bold crayon-stroke, a sort of Oriental make-up, uniting my eyelids and my ears. But I'm awake, keeping watch like a yogi, in a state of blissful ankylosis, conscious of all that's going on around me.
Reading this as a whole, gradually losing interest, I realized that you’d better be careful in sharing your cat enthusiasm with the world too eagerly, especially when talking to someone who sees the merry creatures merely as scruffy hairballs – unless you would like your interlocutor not only to yawn but also to fall asleep on your lap just like the cat, an event your cat for sure won’t be happy with. Meow.
Last summer, one of the two feline sisters that were living with us for 17 years – longer than my children – died. Although I had decided to warrant the surviving old lady cat a nice and peaceful retirement on her own, my family thought of cheering us – her and me - up by gifting me a kitten for my birthday. We named her Bella because of her cow-like black and white fur (Bella is a common cow name where we live). If not ruining the furniture, running after her own large squirrel-like tail or simply being her adorable self, Bella expresses her delight in books – how not to love her?
Ultimately, as a cat lover I had imagined to enjoy this collection of about 200 cat photographs blended with anecdotes, poetry and fiction on their behaviour, nature and character a lot more than I actually did. Most anecdotes turned out rather bland and forgettable. Only a few lines and photographs stood out, the snippets of the selected cat-related literary citations feeling like meagre crumbs thrown haphazardly at the reader, in general too short to be compelling or meaningful. Comprising quotations from Verlaine, Hemingway, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Burroughs, Kipling, Prévert and others, it were the observations from Colette (From Barks and Purrs) which came closest to the feline spirit:
One would think me asleep because the narrow slit made by my parted eyelids, seems but the continuation of that velvety line, that bold crayon-stroke, a sort of Oriental make-up, uniting my eyelids and my ears. But I'm awake, keeping watch like a yogi, in a state of blissful ankylosis, conscious of all that's going on around me.
Reading this as a whole, gradually losing interest, I realized that you’d better be careful in sharing your cat enthusiasm with the world too eagerly, especially when talking to someone who sees the merry creatures merely as scruffy hairballs – unless you would like your interlocutor not only to yawn but also to fall asleep on your lap just like the cat, an event your cat for sure won’t be happy with. Meow.
May 22, 2021
Beautiful pictures but not a lot of words.
February 9, 2020
Perfect coffee table book
January 24, 2008
This is a wonderful book for any cat lover... The photos are amazing, and I love the stories, the poetry and the thoughts it evoked. I bought this book when I got the first cat of my own, Ramona, and always enjoy returning to it.
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January 10, 2012a collection of mostly extraordinary pictures of often quite extraordinary cats, and some nice stories, which are very informative of the strange nature of cats. i think the inter-species stories are my favorites.
July 22, 2016
A wonderful combination of pictures, stories and anecdotes. Of course I am a cat lover.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews