Cats Tales

Cats Tales by Gyles Brandreth, published by Robson Books in 1986, is a book devoted to that most ancient, elegant and completely ungovernable of domestic companions: the cat.

Brandreth brings together feline stories, observations, anecdotes and assorted cat-related curiosities with the sort of wit you would expect from a man who has spent much of his career turning apparently ordinary subjects into something considerably more entertaining than they have any right to be.

Cats, of course, are ideal material. Dogs may love you. Horses may tolerate you. Cats prefer to establish a complicated administrative relationship in which you provide accommodation, catering and heating while they retain full executive control.

This book celebrates that arrangement.

Expect tales of eccentric cats, devoted owners, famous felines, improbable behaviour and the peculiar ways in which human beings repeatedly convince themselves that they own an animal which plainly regards them as junior household staff.

Published in the mid-1980s, Cats Tales also has the agreeable feel of a pre-internet curiosity book. This was a time when amusing cat material had to be collected, written down and physically printed rather than appearing every six seconds in a video with captions and jaunty music.

There is something almost heroic about that now.

Brandreth’s style suits the subject well: light, clever, anecdotal and just serious enough to suggest that cats may, in fact, have been running civilisation from the background for several thousand years while allowing humans to think otherwise.

It is the sort of book that can be read from beginning to end or dipped into at random, rather like a biscuit tin, although considerably less likely to contain crumbs.

A good choice for cat lovers, humour readers, collectors of animal books, admirers of Gyles Brandreth, or anyone who has ever opened a door for a cat only for it to remain exactly where it was and stare at them with quiet contempt.

Condition: Good. A sound used copy with normal signs of age and handling. Published in 1986, it has survived long enough to become a period item in its own right, while cats themselves remain essentially unchanged and continue to regard the entire matter with indifference.

ISBN: 0860514064.

A pleasantly eccentric little book about one of humanity’s most successful long-term arrangements: pretending cats are pets while providing them with rent-free accommodation.

Sold by Crappy Old Books — because some books are about history, some about science, and some about small furry creatures who believe your house belongs to them.

Keep browsing: See more Animals books Other books by Gyles Brandreth