Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$12.99

Available instantly

Hardcover
$14.10

$14.10 with 30 percent savings

List Price: $20.00

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 20 hrs 19 mins

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$14.10 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

The BAP Goods

Sold by

The BAP Goods

Returns

30-day easy returns

Returns

30-day easy returns

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

$7.41

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 20 hrs 19 mins

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$14.10 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by Martistore and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (70) from $1.39 + $3.98 shipping

Follow the authors

Conducting a Secret Cat MissionMerchant Video

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

2 VIDEOS

The Devious Book for Cats: A Parody Hardcover – October 28, 2008

by Joe Garden (Author), Janet Ginsburg (Author), Chris Pauls (Author),

4.5 82 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$14.10","priceAmount":14.10,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"14","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"10","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"PU%2F4bffcA%2Bxaq8Ro%2F9O5sqSJm8Uptojm6QvrCWyNxByKUDUAtmIu4vzRX7N3Vfi0aSzT4ki9lpMZSa1UU%2BnNm0N4Z7Sj8v1nqnsBa3hIvUgb1GK%2FNsd0xTqDujputXfWwnYdPR31sg7GbGKXC4i36C9ERtPxNJJB5SXy5FeBhAf7P4UAwXqgE81d5kpax4hD","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.41","priceAmount":7.41,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"41","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"PU%2F4bffcA%2Bxaq8Ro%2F9O5sqSJm8UptojmvRXqFQwWto6foWThhGpRa76EXolIawev3H%2F0bmbvIvi1J60DMclmdG7JJi6ECsE2Nf697lVrz2af38S0Vz6WGXWDqpvtLfzUQSNgB6qZol3SsodXzZrndZeXnae5N%2BsebLFq2%2FgEfjcDNuzT4cYC1Fy13esIUi%2FW","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Cats have nine lives. Shouldn’t they be lived to the fullest?

“Domesticated” does not mean “docile.” The ho-hum routine of sleep, eat, eat, and sleep is no way for any creature who ruled Egypt for a millennium to spend her day. It’s high time felines everywhere woke up from their cat naps and grabbed life’s strings with both paws.

The Devious Book for Cats offers today’s discerning kitties words of wisdom and advice on everything they need to know, from in-depth guides on cardboard boxes and catnip to a brief history of the Felinism movement. It provides fail-safe tips on waking a human when you want to get fed, choosing the purr-fect gift, staring like a pro, and making the most of superstitions. It also explains the undeniable allure of the Window, the terrifying specter of the Vacuum, and how you can groom properly in just the scant twenty-four hours allotted each day.

Cats: Discover the devious fun you can have when you’re the one in charge!

Frequently bought together

$14.10

Get it as soon as Friday, May 17

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by The BAP Goods and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.

+

$9.50

Get it as soon as Saturday, May 18

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by STARTREKBOOKS and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Joe Garden
83
Hardcover
86 offers from $1.24

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A gleeful riff on The Dangerous Book for Boys (and its followers), this collection of feline's-eye-view essays is a mostly winning effort from past and present staffers of parody newspaper The Onion. Less cringe-worthy than its predecessor, The Dangerous Book for Dogs, Garden and the gang focus on a litany of cat quirks and behaviors that should give cat owners a nod and chuckle on practically every page. Including a field guide to cardboard boxes, profiles of famous felines like Garfield ("the ten ton gorilla in the comics room"), the three waves of felinism and an illustrated guide to napping positions, the book lends itself to casual perusal, though cat fanciers will likely consume it in one sitting. Like listening in on cat-to-cat communications, readers are treated to tactics for "getting away with it," explanations of "what's in there?" and the "Legend of the Crazy Cat Lady" (a cat's campfire scare story). Rounded out with original larks like a TV Guide-style program schedule for the window ("4:00 p.m.: Parallel parking. Watch as Susie Crook fails the test again") this funny collection boasts an impressive hit-to-miss ratio while managing to avoid cute overload.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Fluffy and Bonkers wrote this parody without authorization, because since when did a cat need permission for anything?

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Reasons You Meant to Do That

In the human world, there is a thing called a "mistake." There’s no exact translation in the feline language, but it basically means doing something you did not intend to do. The concept is quite confusing to cats since everything we do is done both correctly and on purpose. There are occasions, however, when our actions appear to resemble one of these so-called "mistakes" to humans, and this coincidence often produces accidental miscommunications. In the event of such a mix-up, you should have some prepared statements ready in order to avoid an incorrect interpretation of your actions.

"Mistake": Your head is stuck in a beer mug.
Reason: Bavarian cats have long known that sleeping in dewy beer steins can refresh and smooth the coat. The hops, malt, and barley also provide an aromatic masking agent for mousing. Plus, there’s nothing wrong with a little nightcap.

"Mistake": You slammed headfirst into a screen window.
Reason: There was a bug–a huge, megabug–right between your eyes that just wouldn’t get off. Well, it’s off now, isn’t it? What’s more, a powerful and graphic message that your face is strictly off-limits has been sent to the bug community.

"Mistake": You leapt from the loveseat to the television, but rather than landing on top, continued sliding off the set.
Reason: That "slip" was a symbolic act of civil disobedience. The grip multinational conglomerates have over the airwaves has reached a critical mass. Lack of competition in Big Media has made quality programming all but obsolete. Your slide was meant to be a physical representation of the slippery slope we tread when we permit the corporate monopolization of entertainment, which creates an uninformed, intellectually lazy, and generally apathetic populace. If your person didn’t get that, it just proves the point.

"Mistake": While stretching out on the couch, you rolled off the cushions and fell to the floor.
Reason: After spending all day licking your claws, you didn’t want to ruin their luster by getting them caked in the thick layer of dust your person allowed to build up in the rug.

"Mistake": You slipped into the fish tank.
Reason: Those neon tetras, angelfish, and dopey zebrafish were taunting you all day. What appeared to your person as an unintentional dip was in fact a carefully choreographed move designed to instill shock and awe in your fishy foes. Now they know they’re not even safe in their castles and treasure chests; if pushed to the limit, you won’t hesitate to get wet.

"Mistake": You’re swinging around from a ceiling fan at 180 rpm.
Reason: Look, you’re a busy cat with better things to do than wait around and air-dry after your dip into the fish tank. Clinging to a fan blade allows you to dry quickly and get on with the day. Staying damp for any longer is tantamount to letting the fish win.

"Mistake": You played an unstructured, unmelodic scherzo on the piano.
Reason: That seemingly anarchic piece was actually the third movement of your free jazz symphony.

"Mistake": You’re trapped in the refrigerator.
Reason: Trapped? Hardly. You’ll come out once you’ve eaten, well, everything.

"Mistake": Rather than walk down a staircase, you tumbled down without your paws ever making stable contact with any one individual stair.
Reason: Oh, does your person still make sure to step on every stair? That’s so . . . quaint. Apparently the efficient practice of stair-sliding has not spread to the world’s more pedestrian species.

"Mistake": You wandered into the reptile house at the Topeka City Zoo and have been swallowed whole by a Burmese python.
Reason: You’re following up on a tip that the python ingested an awesome toy that was dropped in the exhibit. Once you retrieve it, you’ll just set off the firecrackers you brought along and stroll out of the serpent’s gullet without receiving so much as a scrape.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Villard; 1st edition (October 28, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0345508491
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0345508492
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.34 x 0.78 x 8.39 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #914,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #815 in Parody
- #824 in Cat Care
- #1,209 in Cat, Dog & Animal Humor

Customer Reviews:
4.5 82 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Upload your video

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Joe Garden
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Scott Sherman
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Chris Pauls
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

82 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Susan Keiraleyn

Laugh-out-loud funny

Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2008

Verified Purchase

Over the years I've read many supposed-to-be-funny-and-clever little books about cats. This is because I live with a lot of cats and a lot of books, and people tend to think that if you like books and cats, then you certainly must find any book with "cat" in the title to be of significant interest. As a result, birthdays and holidays around here often end up looking like a collection site for a charity book sale drive.

And a lot of those little cat books DO end up going to charity, because frankly, quite a few are neither all that clever nor all that funny, in my opinion. There have been exceptions, but they are just that -- exceptions.

The Devious Book for Cats is one such exception. I received it the other day, and just flipping through and reading random sections left me laughing out loud. Really loud. Quite a few times. Given the current state of the economy and soaring prices for cat food and litter, I must tell you that I have not been in much of a laughing mood lately. The catnip budget around here has suffered quite a bit in recent months, just trying to put kibble on the table, you know. So this book is a welcome mood-brightener.

I like this book so much in fact, that I am ordering several more copies to send as holiday gifts. Anyone familiar with the feline lifestyle should find this book entertaining. The authors, Fluffy and Bonkers, have written an unusually creative, original and inventive guidebook.

And even though I am extremely busy these days watching birds out the window and napping, I am going to sit down on that book and absorb it more fully at my first opportunity.

41 people found this helpful

Helpful

Bud Willie

MORE Fun

Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2022

Verified Purchase

After reading “A Dangerous Book for Dogs” I had to try this one about cats. Just as much fun! If you have a cat, or even if not, you will find this to be delightful as well.

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2013

Verified Purchase

I love cats. So I did like the book. Very creative and enjoyable. Amusing and very true to emulating the characteristics of real cats!!! The author did a great job!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Molly A. Block

A hardback must have book for any cat lover! Fun, entertaining, a so true!

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

Ohhh such a wonderful delightful and cute book written for cats by cats. It's a parody, but the lessons in it are true to heart. How to fit yourself into a box. How to make your human feed you, NOW! How to get a perfect nap. I love this book, it is a must have for any cat lovers!! And there are some simple historical stories in there too, but it's all fun easy reading, just a bunch of laughs and if only my cats could REALLY read, this would be their handbook! I discovered this book after I found "The Dangerous Book for Dogs." After I read IT, I thought I'd look to see if there was one for cats--surely there HAD to be, and so here it is. Two thumbs up!

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Twiga

End swell

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2018

Verified Purchase

I had a very hard time really getting into this book. The last half is far better than the first and it ends well. Recommend it? Maybe.

Helpful

Breanna

More "High Brow" Than You Might Expect

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2012

Verified Purchase

This book was hilarious! There were lots of great illustrations too. I think it helps too if you have ever read The Dangerous Book for Boys (or the one for girls) because the style is part of what makes it so funny.

The book is definitely silly, but it also has some "higher brow" jokes which was a welcome surprise. For example, there was one title above an illustrated scratching post that read, "The Scratching Post & Other Postmodern Forms of Control" or something similar to that. I got this book for a friend but ended up keeping it until I read it all. My friend and I showed it to a professor of ours who loved it so much she bought one for herself!

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sparky

Wonderfully funny book and definitely has great understanding of cat ...

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

Wonderfully funny book and definitely has great understanding of cat behavior. My furballs are easily seen in most (if not all) of these essays. Another great book for those who don't already have it is "I Could Pee on This." It is along the same lines as this book and is actually what led me to getting this.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

maryteresa

Great book for car lovers

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

Anyone who has ever been owned by a car will appreciate this book. While you are busy laughing you will also be nodding your head. You will know your cat was thinking the same way. Quick read, humorous. A delightful piece of brain candy.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Cristiane Luiza Schüler

Perfect for the moments when you are missing your kitties

Reviewed in Germany on February 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

Absolutely fantastic book! Funny, easy to read and in every phrase you think of which of your cats would have done/said the same.

See more reviews

Return this item for free

Return this item for free

Follow the authors

Image Unavailable