Cat People »

Michael Korda is the New York Times bestselling author of Charmed Lives, Ike, Country Matters, Ulysses S. Grant, and Journey to a Revolution. He is Editor in Chief Emeritus of Simon & Schuster, and he lives in Dutchess County, New York.

With characteristic wit, self–effacing charm and sheer, exuberant love of a good cat story, New York Times bestselling author Michael Korda and his wife Margaret Korda recount their lives as "cat people," beginning with Margaret's passion for cats (and Michael's reluctant mid–life transformation into a cat person), and introducing readers to a hilarious assortment of people whose life revolves––often to an extraordinary degree––around their cat, or cats, from Cleopatra a transatlantic traveler who found happiness in Paris to Wally, the epitome of feline dignity.

Here are people who just can't say no to another cat, who "world–travel" with their cat, who build their social life around their cats––and of course the cats themselves, for the Kordas celebrate the beguiling power of cats, including many of their own, who have complemented, complicated and changed their lives together over the years. Here are charming, often hilarious and sometimes sad portraits of such cats as Margaret's beloved Irving, whose favorite abode was the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, and Mumsie, who arrived unexpectedly at the door with her two kittens, and special cats like Jake and the gentle Chutney, as well as "difficult" cats like Chui and poor Mrs. Bumble, and Mr. McT., the bully who found love late in life. Here are graceful cats and cats like Kit–Kat that never look before they jump, in short, countless cats the reader will never forget, even those with many cats of their own.

Publishers Weekly

Michael Korda, Simon & Schuster's editor-in-chief, has already written about the bond between humans and animals in his acclaimed Horse People, but now he and his wife offer a personal look at their infatuation with cats. The story begins before their marriage, with each having their own first cat experiences, and moves forward as they marry and begin to add cat after cat to their home. Starting with Margaret's cat, Irving, each feline's story and quirks are detailed as they move onto the Kordas' farm. The three-legged Queenie, hunter Mumsie and the amorous Mr. McTavish all receive their own chapters that document their lives. It would be easy to see this book as a vanity project penned by two cat-besotted people, but the addition of historical and philosophical anecdotes makes it more than that. From Churchill's insistence on asking the opinion of his cat Nelson during admiralty meetings to the parable of Mallarm 's cat, these tangents transform the Kordas' story into a humorous and insightful look at just how consuming cats can be for their owners. For those who have experienced what the Kordas call "cat-harsis," this book will be a fun and often hilarious read. B&w illus. Agent, Lynn Nesbit. (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.