Bea Reviews Of Cats and Men: Profiles of History's Great Cat-Loving Artists, Writers, Thinkers, and Statesmen by Sam Kalda

Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: April 18th, 2017
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

A stylish, illustrated gift book from an award-winning artist that profiles notable cat-loving men throughout history in words and pictures.

Of Cats and Men presents a fresh approach to cat entertainment that’s smart, sweet, and driven by beautiful art (instead of tacky photography, as many cat books are). Appealing to both men and women, the “cat men” approach is a fun
twist on the “cat lady” stereotype and makes for a highly giftable book. The 30 men profiled range from writers and artists such as Haruki Murakami, T.S. Eliot, William S. Burroughs, and Ai Weiwei, to historical luminaries such as Sir Winston
Churchill, Nikola Tesla, and Sir Issac Newton. In addition to the portraits, the book features beautifully hand-lettered quotes about cats by some of the men, including Twain’s “When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade, without
further introduction.”

My Thoughts:

I just can't turn away from a book that features cats, lol. And the pairing of cats with historical figures was appealing also. The book takes a semi-humorous, semi-serious look at the saying that dogs are man's best friend then goes on to explain why, in the author's opinion at least, cats deserve to be man's special friend too.

"Of Cats and Men" is a short book, only about 100 pages, with short biographies of men from around the world throughout history who either had cats in their lives or were important to cats in some way. The emphasis of the book is on the humans more than the cats. If you want to learn more about the cats in the lives of the men portrayed, you'll be disappointed as details are few at best. But if you are curious about which great historical men have been cat lovers, this is the book for you. The book contains illustrations of each of the men, sometimes with cat, sometimes sans cat, and there are also quotes about cats scattered throughout the book. Written with humor, and affection for cats, the book makes a good gift or coffee table book.