Book Review: Kitty Cornered by Bob Tarte

A book written by the elusive cat man :)

Kitty Cornered by Bob Tarte, Narrated by Tom Perkins  
Audiobook 
Released April 2017, Unabridged 
Amazon ♦ Goodreads

Bob Tarte had his first encounter with a cat when he was two and a half years old. He should have learned his lesson then, from Fluffy. But as he says, "I listened to my heart instead, and that always leads to trouble." 

In this tell-all of how the Tarte household grew from one recalcitrant cat to six-including a hard-to-manage stray named Frannie-Tarte confesses to allowing these interlopers to shape his and his wife's life, from their dining habits to their sleeping arrangements to the placement and furriness of their furniture. But more than that, Bob begins seeing Frannie and the other cats as unlikely instructors in the art of achieving contentment, even in the face of illness and injury. Bewitched by the unknowable nature of domesticated cats, he realizes that sometimes wildness and mystery are exactly what he needs. With the winning humor and uncanny ability to capture the soul of the animal world that made Enslaved by Ducks a success, Tarte shows us that life with animals gives us a way out of our narrow human perspective to glimpse something larger, more enduring, and more grounded in the simplicities of love-and catnip. 

My Thoughts:

Look at that cover and those crazy, crazy eyes and tell me you could’ve resisted!

This is a cute audiobook about a man who insists he didn’t start out as a cat lover. Yeah, yeah I’ve heard that story before! He never really had anything against them but his parents preferred dogs. He was also scratched pretty badly as a kid but never held it against the entire species. His take ‘em or leave ‘em feelings towards them changes when he marries an animal lover named Linda and suddenly their house is filled with birds, other assorted animals and lots of cats. Six of them by the very end and he clearly loves them all.

He recalls how all of these cats came into his life and the stories are sweet, funny and, whew, sorrynotsorry for the spoiler alert, none of them die! I have to tell you, I was extremely worried about that but he ends the book before that ever happens. If you’re an animal death wimp like me you can feel safe reading this one.

I think any cat lover will enjoy this audio but you really do have to be a fan of the feline because it’s most definitely a cat person book. The writer is a neurotic man who only wishes “to stay in a good mood for longer than hour”. If you can relate, you will enjoy him and his many idiosyncrasies. He reminded me a bit of Eeyore and that is okay. I enjoy reading about other people’s problems and their naughty pets. It makes me feel better about my crazy bunch who have shaved years off of my life with their cord chewing, string eating, demonic ways. So, while there is nothing earth shattering here and it didn’t make me laugh out loud (but nothing does, really because I’m a crab), it’s an amusing and pleasant, stress-free way to spend a few hours.

The audiobook I listened to was narrated by Tom Perkins and he is a pleasure to listen to for hours on end. You know I’d tell you if he wasn’t!

I received this audio from Tantor Media a shamefully long time ago. Thanks, Tantor!