A raw and tenderly funny look at the human-cat relationship, from one of our most treasured and transgressive writers. “The cat is the beautiful devil.” Felines touched a vulnerable spot in Charles Bukowski’s crusty soul. For the writer, there was something majestic and elemental about these inscrutable creatures he admired, sentient beings whose searing gaze could penetrate deep into our being. Bukowski considered cats to be unique forces of nature, elusive emissaries of beauty and love. On Cats offers Bukowski’s musings on these beloved animals and their toughness and resiliency. He honors them as fighters, hunters, survivors who command awe and respect as they grip tightly onto the world around them: “A cat is only ITSELF, representative of the strong forces of life that won’t let go.” Funny, moving, tough, and caring, On Cats brings together the acclaimed writer’s reflections on these animals he so admired. Bukowski’s cats are fierce and demanding—he captures them stalking their prey; crawling across his typewritten pages; waking him up with claws across the face. But they are also affectionate and giving, sources of inspiration and gentle, insistent care. Poignant yet free of treacle, On Cats is an illuminating portrait of this one-of-a-kind artist and his unique view of the world, witnessed through his relationship with the animals he considered his most profound teachers.

For centuries, cats have been worshipped, adored and mistrusted in equal measure. This beautiful gift book contains a selection of essays, stories, and poems on cats by writers from across the ages. In these pages, writers reflect on the curious feline qualities that inspire such devotion in their owners, even when it seems one-sided. Cats’ affections are hard-won and often fickle. Freud considered his cat an embodiment of true egoism; Hilaire Belloc found peace in his feline companion’s complacency; and Hemingway—a famous cat-lover—wrote of drinking with his eleven cats and the pleasant distraction they gave him. Edward Gorey can’t turn down a stray despite the trouble they cause him, and admits he has no idea what they’re thinking about; Muriel Spark gives practical advice on how to teach a cat to play ping-pong; Nikola Tesla, who helped design the modern electricity supply system, describes a seminal experience with a cat that first sparked his fascination with electricity; and Caitlin Moran considers the unexpected feelings of loss after the death of her family cat. These writers, and many others (including Mary Gaitskill, Alice Walker, Ursula K. Le Guin, John Keats, James Bowen, Lynne Truss, and more), paint a joyful portrait of cats and their mysterious and loveable ways. As Hemingway wrote, “one cat leads to another.” The book features six black-and-white cat portraits by photographer Elliot Ross.

When did you last play with cats ... inside a BOOK?! The cats in this book want to have fun, and by turning the pages and flipping the flaps YOU can play their favourite games with them! Tiny, Moonpie and Andre love wool to tangle with, cardboard boxes to hide in, pillow fights ... and fish! But where there are fish, there is also water -lots of it. So who's going to rescue the cats from the giant f1oodwave? You are, of course!

Look what The New Yorker dragged in! It’s the purr-fect gathering of talent celebrating our feline companions. This bountiful collection, beautifully illustrated in full color, features articles, fiction, humor, poems, cartoons, cover art, drafts, and drawings from the magazine’s archives. Among the contributors are Margaret Atwood, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Roald Dahl, Wolcott Gibbs, Robert Graves, Emily Hahn, Ted Hughes, Jamaica Kincaid, Steven Millhauser, Haruki Murakami, Amy Ozols, Robert Pinsky, Jean Rhys, James Thurber, John Updike, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and E. B. White. Including a Foreword by Anthony Lane, this gorgeous keepsake will be a treasured gift for all cat lovers. Praise for The Big New Yorker Book of Cats “The Book of Cats comes a year after The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs—a publishing slight that, though it stings, I’ll forgive, as the latest anthology was worth the wait. . . . Two standout articles feature real-life obsessives of ages past who reveal today’s Caturnet devotees—with their GIFs and Tumblrs and hastily aggregated listicles—for what they truly are: amateurs. . . . Eat your heart out, Cute Overload.”—The New York Times Book Review “A beautiful hardcover.”—Jenny McCarthy, People “This irresistible anthology of articles, poems, essays, fiction, cartoons, and covers pulled from the New Yorker is a veritable treasure trove for cat lovers. Just dive right in; with stories from the likes of John Updike, Maeve Brennan, Roald Dalhl, and Haruki Murakami interwoven with hilariously wry cartoons, one can’t help but be enthralled. A must-have.”—Modern Cat “A shiny, well-fed tome . . . The anthology embodies the cat’s defining characteristic: its cluster of opposites, rolled together into a giant hairball of cultural attitudes—something, perhaps, at once uncomfortably and assuringly reflective of our own chronically conflicted selves.”—Brain Pickings “This gorgeous book has earned a permanent spot on my coffee table. It is an absolute joy to read and browse through, and I know it will bring me hours and hours of pleasure for years to come. And it makes a purr-fect gift for the special cat lovers in your life.”—The Conscious Cat “[A] sumptuous volume.”—The Dallas Morning News

Everything a child wants to know about cats and kittens, from breeds, features, pet care, and grooming, to discovering how their cats communicate with us and one another. This book is for anyone who loves cats and kittens, whether they're cat owners or want-to-be owners. Learn what cats are showing by their body language, know where they wander off to outside, and what they are trying to say to you. Discover the secrets of the playful and curious characters of these amazing pets in this fun, lively book. Packed with wonderful pictures and adorable cat facts, Cats and Kittens takes you into their fascinating world. Find out about the individual features of different breeds and how to take the best care of them, and be amazed by their intelligence and agile antics.

For many years Joan Moshimer has led the way in brilliant rug-hooking artistry. In Hooked on Cats she teaches beginning and experienced rug hookers to focus their creativity on the irresistible cat. Her detailed patterns and helpful hints will enable you to capture the bewitching grace and adorable expressions of felines in the rug-hooking medium. Book jacket.

Following the success of recent bestsellers like Grumpy Cat and How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You, Tiny Hats on Cats combines adorable photos of cats with author Adam Ellis's hilarious anecdotes, but also has a fun DIY element: Readers will learn how to craft colorful and creative feline headgear from the book's step-by-step instructions. With a portable trim size and a beautifully designed interior, Tiny Hats on Cats is the perfect gift for every animal lover or for any reader who wants their cat to feel just a little more fancy.

How can an old man and his wife select one cat from a choice of millions and trillions.

A literary master’s story about the aggravations and great joys of cats, from “a most sophisticated novelist, with a gusting humor and a hushed tenderness of detail” (Julian Barnes) In the autumn of 1965, flush with the unexpected success of his first published books, the Czech author Bohumil Hrabal bought a cottage in Kersko. From then until his death in 1997, he divided his time between Prague and his country retreat, where he wrote and tended to a community of feral cats. Over the years, his relationship to cats grew deeper and more complex, becoming a measure of the pressures, both private and public, that impinged on his life as a writer. All My Cats, written in 1983 after a serious car accident, is a confessional memoir, the chronicle of an author who becomes overwhelmed. As he is driven to the brink of madness by the dilemmas created by his indulgent love for the animals, there are episodes of intense brutality as he controls the feline population. Yet in the end, All My Cats is a book about Hrabal’s relationship to nature, about the unlikely sources of redemption that come to him unbidden, like a gift from the cosmos—and about love.

The inspiration for the iconic musical Cats, T. S. Eliot's classic and delightful collection of poetry about cats. These lovable cat poems were written by T. S. Eliot for his godchildren and continue to delight children and adults alike. This collection is a curious and artful homage to felines young and old, merry and fierce, small and unmistakably round. This is the ultimate gift for cat and poetry lovers.