"[Cats] know us better than we know them, and a lot of them have a sense of humor. They're exactly like us minus our useless mental power and thumbs." This wisdom from a friend of Bob Tarte sums up Kitty Cornered, which examines the feline aspects of the Tartes' Michigan household as it grew from one to six cats--some entering their lives via happenstance, others by design.
Tarte (Enslaved by Ducks; Fowl Weather) is a wry, engaging storyteller who profiles the idiosyncrasies of each cat and their ever-changing roles in the domestic hierarchy. This includes his efforts to woo Lucy, a rescued alpha cat and surly biter who lacks affection for both the Tartes and the rest of her cat mates, such as Moonbeam (aka "Moobie"), an aging snow-white cat suffering a tumor and vexed by an Elizabethan collar, and Frannie, a traumatized feral stray who plays an emotional tug-of-war with Bob's sympathies.
Beyond the heartwarming humorous stories of litter box mishaps, scuffles, sleep disturbances, food conundrums, cat carrier challenges, vet bills, damaged property and tattered psyches, profound insights emerge into the soul connection between domestic animals and the people who willingly share their lives--and love--with them. Tarte illustrates how cats are complicated creatures, "more intelligent than most people." The attentiveness (or lack thereof) of his four-legged family ultimately teaches Bob, a self-proclaimed anxious person, lessons about trust, patience, tenacity, socialization, resilience, contentment and even healing. -- Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines