The Cat Who Came for Christmas

by Cleveland Amory

Overview

A cat charms its way into a curmudgeon's heart one hilarious holiday season in this "extraordinary" bestselling Christmas classic (Parade), the perfect gift for the animal lover in your life.



'Twas the night before Christmas when a bedraggled white feline entered the heart — and home — of Cleveland Amory. To say it is a friendly takeover is an understatement. For the cat who came for Christmas is clearly of the Independent Type, and Cleveland Amory, cranky or not, is a pushover where animals are concerned.


Toe to toe they stand — Amory at six feet three, the cat at six inches — and eyeball to eyeball with each other on every issue: whether or not to come when called; to recognize one's name; to take a trip, a pill, a bath, or a walk on a leash; to be civil to New People; or even in an age when Thin Is In, why anyone in his right mind would want to be the Last Fat Cat. We will not spoil The Cat Who Came For Christmas by telling you who blinks first. Suffice it to say that in this hilarious battle, nine times out of ten, it is not the cat.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316242684
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	10/22/2013
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	129,685
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.75(d)
Lexile:	1160L (what's this?)

About the Author

Cleveland Amory (1917-1998) wrote many highly successful books about animals, including The Cat Who Came for Christmas, The Cat and the Curmudgeon, and The Best Cat Ever, as well as such widely praised works of social history as The Proper Bostonians, The Last Resorts, and Who Killed Society? He founded the Fund for Animals in 1967.

Editorial Reviews

"Cleveland Amory has probably done more for more animals than any other person in this country. But what he has done here, for this particular animal, is in some ways just as remarkable. He has written a book which, from start to finish I found powerfully compelling, an extraordinary combination of humor and philosophy — both his own and his cat's."—Norman Cousins

"This extraordinary true story will touch your head and your heart and your funny bone-all at once. I predict this book will not just have nine lives, but nine generations of lives."—Parade

"The Cat Who Came for Christmas arrived on the one day I was home between two extended overseas trips and my desk was piled high. So some reluctance touched my decision even to take a quick glance at the formidable pile of galleys. One and a half hours later I was still reading about that darned cat. It is that kind of book. That kind of cat, too."—Walter Cronkite

From the Publisher

In this seasonal story, a Scrooge-ish New Yorker rescues a hapless cat. Or it the reverse? A charming story by a beloved writer on animals.

bn.com

It is fitting that the founder and head of the Fund for Animals personally rescues and takes in strays, and one incident proved to have a profound effect on him. On a snowy Christmas Eve, Amory helped capture a scrawny cat and took it to his apartment. How does a new cat-keeper train a creature accustomed to fending for itself in Manhattan's alleys? Slowly, with patience and respect. Amory offers an entertaining, if precious, re-creation of his first year with Polar Bear (his account of selecting a name takes 20 pages). One highlight is a visit to the vet where the receptionist was a cat. During this time he also housed a dog and a grounded pigeon, and consulted a cat psychologist as well. Interspersed with tales of Polar Bear are many digressions involving the author's work with animal-rescue and animal-rights organizations. Polar Bear was invited to be ship's cat on Sea Shepherd (Greenpeace), but Amory declined on behalf of the cat. Mainly for aelurophiles. (October)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Apparently aimed at the holiday gift trade, this is the pleasant, rambling story of a white cat rescued by Amory one Christmas Eve. Struggling to understand his feline friend, he becomes devoted to a degree that not everyone will understand. An animal rights activist, Amory shares his feelings about veterinarians, airlines, hotels, human and animal natures, and the complexities of modern life. Although amusing anecdotes abound, there is little action. Amory's intelligent, educated musings explain life as he and his cat experience it. He also includes interesting trivia on ancient feline history and celebrities who loved or hated cats. Not a necessary purchase, but most cat lovers will adore it. Carolyn I. Alexander, USACDEC Technical Information Ctr., Fort Ord, Cal.

Library Journal

Cleveland Amory is renowned for his lifetime work in support of animal welfare, and he has written many books on the subject. A popular one is recorded here--Amory’s life and musings on a rescued alley cat ultimately dubbed “Polar Bear.” It could be that on the page this is a witty and amusing tale, but read by Alan Sklar with overbearing and mawkish good humor, its appeal is compromised. Amory is a fair humorist and can certainly provide enough pathos for any animal lover, but Sklar so overplays it that only the most sentimental listener will enjoy this. Comedy, admittedly, is the most difficult genre to play, and the director should have detected the problems herein. D.J.B. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

APR/MAY 04 - AudioFile