Published 2011
285 pages
If you need a little unpredictability in your life, live with a cat. If you want total chaos, live with six of them!
I would love to find myself partially in that situation - let's say two or three cats, not six - but alas, I live with this chunker king who has let it be violently known that no other cats are welcome in this house. Not just the occasional hiss, but the full "I want to rip your face off even though I don't have front claws" roar (declawing was the decision of his previous owner, to be clear).
So for now I will still to enjoying the antics of other cats online, on my porch (currently in vain trying to domesticate two roamers), and in books like Kitty Cornered.
Something particularly charming about cats compared to other pets is just how often the circumstances of how they arrive in your life are unusual and rarely of your own efforts, knowing affectionately as the Cat Distribution System. I myself inherited Buddy uncerimonously. An older lady's daughter surrendered him and his brother when she could no longer care for them, and when a hoarding case came in, the call went out on Instagram for fosters. I'd just bought my first house and wanted my own animals after years of petsitting. I went to the shelter during the height of Covid 2020 and waiting outside, as no one was allowed in. A few minutes later I was handed a bag of supplies and a crate with a cat inside, completely randomly assigned. I assumed Buddy would just be the first of many fosters, but three weeks later I foster failed and have been living with the love of my life for more than four years now.
Bob's cat accumulation is even more random and certainly more amusing. Whether they come running out of the woods, appear from the backseat of a pastor's car, or dumped on him by a fleeing coworker, Bob's six cats are nothing alike and for that matter don't much like each other. Cats 1-4 live together like begrudingly assigned dorm roommates, but 5 & 6 find solace in each other as a bonded pair. Their antics make for a healthier mental substitute for a realtiy TV shows while still providing the desired drama.
Another great "pick-up" book (see my review of Bob's other book for more), Kitty Cornered is a good light read. It won't grab you and pull you through to the end, but picking it up for another chapter here and there is a great way to get your cat fix!
The Bookshelf Rating: BOTTOM SHELF
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