Overview

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Rebecca van Laer and her partner purchase a home and move in with their senior cats, Toby and Gus. Their loved ones see this as a step toward an inevitable future—first comes the house, then a dog, then a child. But what if they are just cat people? Moving between memoir, philosophy, and pop culture, Cat is a playful and tender meditation on cats and their people. Van Laer considers cats’ role in her personal narrative, where they are mascots of laziness and lawlessness, and in cultural narratives, where they appear as feminine, anarchic, and maladapted, especially in comparison to dogs. From the stereotype of the ‘crazy cat lady’ to the joy of cat memes to the grief of pet loss, van Laer demonstrates that the cat-person relationship is free of the discipline and dependence required by parenting (and dog-parenting), creating a less hierarchical intimacy that offers a different model for love.

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Reviews

Van Laer’s keen eye captures the ineffable charm of our feline friends and investigates humankind’s relationship to cats with great insight and tenderness. A stirring and deeply profound look at what it means to love and lose, and a must-read for cat people and the cat-curious alike. * Gina Chung, author of Sea Change and Green Frog * Rebecca van Laer’s feline marvel is at once cozy and mind-expanding. If you’ve never felt a connection with cats before, you will after reading this brilliant book. * Henry Hoke, author of Open Throat * In tender, incisive prose, van Laer examines the ways that she has negotiated her relationship to herself, the world around her, and the ever-mysterious wildness she invites in, revealing the deep and abiding love that is the foundation of what it takes to be in true communion with other life. Let Cat curl up and rest in your heart."" * Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, author of What We Fed To The Manticore *

Author Information

Rebecca van Laer is the author of a novella, How to Adjust to the Dark (2022). Her writing has appeared in The New England Review, Joyland, BOMB, and TriQuarterly, among other places.

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