Reviewed by Jay Scott Kanes
Affection for felines prompted Tom Cox, a British music critic turned author, to write an often-delightful, non-fiction account, Under the Paw, Confessions of a Cat Man (2008, Simon and Schuster, London, 240 pages). The same motivation keeps his readers flipping the pages.
Cox qualifies as a typical “cat man”. Not a superhero like Batman, nor a villain like Catwoman, he simply adores cats. “I'd always loved cats: their fuck-you swagger, the art of their paws and tails and muzzles, the ageless comedy of their innate touchiness, the way they made every smidgen of affection they gave you feel like a hard-won personal victory.”
Logically, “the way I viewed it, there were lots of very ugly things in London, so, on the occasions when something beautiful with a glossy coat came along and nudged its cold nose into your hand, it seemed churlish not to take a few moments to celebrate the mere fact of its existence.”
The author experiences a few mishaps courtesy of his many cats, among them The Bear, Janet, Ralph, Shipley, Pablo and Bootsy. Readers may recall similar capers in their own cat-friendly lives.
Under the Paw relies on the author's devotion to cats, his theories about their behavior and problems, some humorous incidents, assorted vexations, a few tragedies and many moments of human-cat tenderness. Cox believes in full disclosure, complete with a “timeline” of his cats.
Based on personal observations, the author offers “random selections from the cat dictionary”. There’s ES Pee, “the telepathic process that leads a cat to only get properly settled on its owner's stomach in the moments when that owner is most desperate for the toilet”. How about the mousetache, “a perfectly placed mouse, held between the teeth in a strategically horizontal manner (preferably with a slight downward droop at each end), so as to make the creature's captor look particularly dashing”?
Some passages read like wisdom for the ages: “I’ve always felt that a house without a cat is a house without soul. Admittedly, it's often a clean house without soul....”
Cox uses catty chat-up lines: “How about a bit of chin-rubby action? Hmmm! Is that nice? Oh, yes, that's a very manly purr you've got, isn't it?”
Unfortunately, some of the author's cat-taming techniques lack practical value. For example, most felines won't react to Cat of the Month Awards, not even with the winner's picture posted on a refrigerator.
Every cat-book needs some dog talk. “With dogs, it just wasn't the same. As we got settled in Trowse, I started to walk Nouster, Richard the landlord's Border collie, over to the nearby country park, and I closely observed his encounters with other members of his species. The difference between watching these and watching, for example, Shipley's encounters with Spooky, the big black tom owned by our neighbour Jenny, was the difference between watching two boozed-up football hooligans rowdily greeting each other on the street, and watching two college professors – one of whom had previously slept with the other's wife and given his book a scathing review in an academic journal – size each other up over the crème de menthe at a dinner party.”
Many pet-owners favor furry offspring over human ones. “My cats were not children. I knew that.... I did not have any right to bore my more conventional, child-rearing friends with anecdotes about their behaviour, but that did not mean I didn't find endless fascination with the way their brains worked.”
Not all pet-lovers will endorse everything. Cox allows his cats to roam outdoors, preying on rodents and birds while facing dogs, traffic, territorial disputes and other dangers. Some people, arguably more responsible, choose to raise house-cats who live much longer and take no toll on small creatures.
Like most books, Under the Paw contains a few minor miscues. The back cover mentions “the chaos of owning seven of the most charismatic, idiotic and duplicitous cats”. But the text reveals “six” felines in the author's custody.
Cox says his cats couldn't survive in “the jungles of Guangdong”. But highly developed Guangdong Province in southern China has achieved fame for its thousands of factories, not jungle.
Most pet-people constantly aim cameras at their furry families. Why didn't Cox share more photos? Lack of images counts as a big flaw.
A frequent contributor to British newspapers, Cox, who lives in Norfolk, has written four previous books: Nice Jumper, Educating Peter, The Lost Tribes of Pop and Bring Me the Head of Sergio Garcia. He's also interested in music, golf and wife Dee.
Most readers purr through these pages. But anyone allergic to cat fur may start to itch merely by reaching for Under the Paw.
Approval rating: 78 per cent.
For more information: www.tom-cox.com or www.simonsays.co.uk
(April 15, 2009)
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