Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #184184 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.com Review
Part history of a species, part personal memoir, and featuring a healthy dose of wry humor, Clea Simon's The Feline Mystique shares the tale of her particular cat (Cyrus) set against a backdrop of interviews and statistics on cats throughout the world. Smoothly blending mythology with modern stories of dedicated feral cat rescuers, feline fanciers might bond with this book as tightly as they've bonded with their own wee beastie.

The focus is relentlessly female and a happy counterpoint to urban myths and ancient folk tales about lonely women and their up-to-no-good pets. Simon walks us through her initial bond with a young kitten, through the warm years of record-clawing, arm-kneading, keyboard-walking, veterinarian-terrorizing cat companionship, and leads us gently through the sadness of parting with a beloved animal. You won't find practical tips on health care or soapboxes about the problem of strays in the city--just page after page of individualized love and fascination. From Norse goddess Freya and her flying cats to references of a study done on the annual kill of an outdoors-living housecat to an interview with Barnum and Bailey's female tiger tamer, each detail helps construct a solid picture of the multifaceted relationship possible between a woman and her cat. --Jill Lightner

From Library Journal
Simon (Fatherless Women) draws on personal experience, research, and interviews with female cat owners to explore the unique relationship between women and cats. She seeks to dispel negative old wives' tales about women and cats, creating a work that largely offers her own insights and reflections. She also examines how cats and women have been intertwined in historical myths and stereotypes, from the Egyptian cat-headed goddess Bastet, to the 15th-century burning of witches and their feline familiars, to the modern Catwoman. Throughout are stories of women and their cats, including a shelter worker, a tiger trainer, and a number of artists. Simon includes her own touching story of 17 years with her recently deceased cat, Cyrus, and explores how the female-feline relationship affects other relationships in a woman's life. A bibliography and list of cat rescue organizations accompany the work. Lovingly written, Simon's work offers an unusual perspective on an age-old topic and makes a suitable purchase for large public libraries. Eva Lautemann, Georgia Perimeter Coll., Clarkston
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The countless joys and rewards as well as the frustrations and failures of pet ownership are explored by an author who examines the complexities of the human-animal dynamic from both points of view.Simon's book is an erudite, anthropological discourse on the ageless and enigmatic relationship between females and felines. Exploring the myths and examining the stereotypes that have shaped society's perceptions of cats and the women who care for them, Simon blends historical, cultural, and literary references with personal observations in an eloquent, unabashed paean to this rewarding, if often misunderstood, interspecies bond. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Well-meaning but ultimately unsatisfying
I wanted to read this book to further explore the question posed by the title and thought there would be some answers. If you have never read any books about cats and their history before, then there is much scholarship and lovingly done research in this book and that does make it worthwhile. She is obviously well-meaning, sincere and loves cats. However, the book doesn't really explore the "mysterious connection" in any interesting or conclusive fashion. Sadly, too, her writing is a bit clunky, repetitive and formulaic, especially in her various interviews. It felt like a research paper that someone suggested could be made "more interesting" with interviews with female cat owners. I just thought it would be a better book. The book on this subject has yet to be written.

Read like a thesis paper.
Not a particularly entertaining read. It reads like a thesis paper, scholarly and ponderous. Felt like I was doing homework.

Women and Cats - a wonderful and mysterious bond
This is a great book, especially for those that would like to know WHY so many wonmen are adopted by cats! We never really own a cat, nor should we and I think women understand this, as explained in the book. Cats are part of the family and because of that, the bond it strong. This book helped me to understand why.