The Cat That Changed My Life: 50 Cats Talk Candidly About How They Became Who They Are by Bruce Eric Kaplan

Q: What would happen if an intrepid person went around the country asking cats of all personality types and persuasions one simple question -- Who was the cat that had the most significant effect on your life and why? A: This book. And what you will find in it is amusing, shocking, touching, and altogether unlike anything else you have ever experienced. Editorial Reviews Review The New York Sun In its portrayal of common housecats struggling through existential crises and moments of catharsis, [The Cat That Changed My Life is] hysterical in that way that makes you want to pick up the phone and read along (through gasps for air) to a friend. -- Review About the Author Bruce Eric Kaplan, known for his distinctive, off-beat single-panel cartoons, has been a New Yorker cartoonist for over ten years. He is also a television writer, and was an executive producer for the acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under, as well as a writer on Seinfeld (funnily enough, one of his most well-known episodes is one where Elaine becomes increasingly frustrated over what she takes to be an utterly nonsensical New Yorker cartoon). He has authored and illustrated six adult titles for Simon & Schuster: the cult classic The Cat That Changed My Life; the collections, I Love You, I Hate You, I'm Hungry, No One You Know and This is a Bad Time; and Every Person on the Planet and Edmund and Rosemary Go to Hell, both featuring the wonderfully neurotic Brooklyn couple, Edmund & Rosemary. Bruce is also the author and illustrator of two picture books: Monsters Eat Whiny Children and Cousin Irv from Mars. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Introduction Change is good, or at least I have heard people say that. But what I have never understood is, when things change for the worse, why is that good? Here's another expression -- the more things change, the more they stay the same. That makes sense, yet...if it's true, how do you explain the vast difference between a grape and a raisin? And while we are on the topic, I think if someone asks you for spare change, he or she doesn't really want coins at all. Instead, I believe their subconscious is asking you to help them become something else. But I've noticed that the person gets frustrated when you try to tell him or her this, so I could be wrong. What you are about to read is an exploration of the nature of change. I devoted four years of my life to traveling across the country (okay, mostly I stayed in and around New Jersey, but periodically I left the metropolitan area) asking cats who was the individual in their life that had changed them the most and why. I conducted over forty thousand interviews and then winnowed them down to the fifty most interesting responses. I sketched each cat as I spoke with him or her. I feel this helped me get particularly intimate answers to my questions. A unique energy is created between the artist and the subject. Each time one looks up from the paper, it is with a deeper understanding, and the subject can't help but sense this (that is, unless the subject smells a mouse in the nearby vicinity, in which case the subject needs to find it before it can really concentrate). A rhythm is created between the two individuals, and the veil the subject normally wears is slowly dropped, until he or she is virtually bare. Change is such a nebulous word. Actually, all words are nebulous, even the word nebulous (depending on how you use it). But the point is, there was a wild disparity in the answers to my simple question. Some of the cats, such as Claude, spoke of another cat that had passed on a meaningful personal philosophy. Others -- for example, Bones -- described a cat that did something terrible that forever scarred them. And then there were those such as Moo-Moo who spoke of a cat whose warmth and goodness had nurtured their own self-improvement. Of course, there was a lot of talk of love. L'amour, l'amour, toujours l'amour (or something to that effect). But the illicit passion that changed Knickers's life is vastly different from the obsessive love that changed Haggie's life. And as you will see, some (like Bumpers) never mention the word love, yet I suspect love lies at the heart of their answers, even if they have no idea that it does. But that often seems true of all of us. We talk about a million different things, yet really it's always just about love (and guilt, obviously). Speaking of which, there is a lot of guilt in these pages, most notably from Peaches and Hildegarde. And yet, like love, each story of guilt is different in its own way. At the same time, there are some striking similarities between the cats in this collection. Most notably, two come to my mind. One is that, overall, they are a highly sensitive and introspective group. This is their reputation, of course, but I had no idea of their level of sensitivity until I began this project. Take Brownie, for example. A cat said one simple thing to him and from that moment on, nothing in his life was the same again. Kip and Cecil tell equally distressing stories. One could say that they perhaps overreacted in these situations. But being somewhat sensitive myself, it is hard for me to say that they are overly so. The second similarity is almost amusing (but sadly, like so many things in life, not quite). All these cats lead exciting and varied lives wholly independent of the human race. Again, maybe that's obvious just by looking at the species, but when you read these testimonies, it becomes horrifyingly apparent. I suppose there could be a case made that it is denial on some of these cats' parts, but I have to tell you, I don't think that's it. I just think that their own kind are much more interesting to them. And who can blame them? I never encountered a person who was half as interesting as a cat. Let's be realistic here -- you'll never meet a cat who talks about any kind of mortgage rates and that puts them way ahead of us. Anyway, on with the book. I hope you like it. And if it changes you in any way, please let me know. Bruce Eric Kaplan Los Angeles, California Copyright 2002 by Lydecker Publishing, Inc.