Doris Lessing's love affair with cats began at a young age, when she became intrigued with the semiferal creatures on the African farm where she grew up. Her fascination with the handsome, domesticated creatures that have shared her flats and her life in London remained undiminished, and grew into real love with the awkwardly lovable El Magnifico, the last cat to share her home.
On Cats is a celebrated classic, a memoir in which we meet the cats that have slunk and bullied and charmed their way into Doris Lessing's life. She tells their stories--their exploits, rivalries, terrors, affections, ancient gestures, and learned behaviors--with vivid simplicity. And she tells the story of herself in relation to cats: the way animals affect her and she them, and the communication that grows possible between them--a language of gesture and mood and desire as eloquent as the spoken word. No other writer conveys so truthfully the real interdependence of humans and cats or convinces us with such stunning recognition of the reasons why cats really matter.
We've all suffered the dreaded reading slump. Sometimes we just need a little kickstart to get us going again. For many of us, this can take the form of a few slim, unputdownable reads that we can finish in a day or so. Here are twenty titles (fiction and nonfiction) that might do the trick!
Our holiday plans aren't only about gatherings and gifts. We're also looking forward to what we will be reading and watching during these festive times. We enlisted OnePoll to survey 2,000 Americans about their holiday entertainment activities. Here’s what we learned.
August 9 is our day! And we're making the most of it. Here we share some of our favorite ways to celebrate National Book Lovers Day, our favorite books about bibliophiles, and fun qualities that book lovers share.