OF CATS AND MEN – Sam Kalda | Looking For a Good Book

Of Cats and Men by Sam Kalda is a simple and charming book of brief biography/profiles of famous men of history and their association/appreciation/love of cats. The book is attractively illustrated with a painting for each profile.

The book is entertaining and informative, and for all men out there who loves cats, affirmation that we are not alone in our appreciation for the feline pets and in fact in the company of some pretty great personalities.

About halfway through the book I did note that this isn’t always the sort of company I necessarily want to be associated with. Some of these men went a little over-board in their affections (Freddie Mercury anyone?). The artists and writers who lived (and died) somewhat controversially also don’t necessarily reflect the best of we men who love cats. Ladies … not all men who love cats are crazy!

This lightly spoofs the ‘crazy cat lady’ theory by showcasing thirty ‘crazy cat guys’ but does so very lovingly and with attractive, stylized art (see the cover for an example).

This would make a nice gift for the cat-lover you know, or for yourself.

This book features profiles of the following cat lovers:

King Hywel the Good
Sultan Baibars
Michel de Montaigne
Sir Isaac Newton
Samuel Johnson
Edward Lear
Mark Twain
Nikola Tesla
Maurice Ravel
Louis Wain
Sir Winston Churchill
T.S. Eliot
Paul Klee
Tsuguharu Foujita
Raymond Chandler
George Balanchine
Jean Cocteau
Ernest Hemingway
Balthus
Romare Bearden
William S. Burroughs
Saul Steinberg
Charles Bukowski
Marlon Brando
Edward Gorey
Andy Warhol
Karl Lagerfeld
Freddie Mercury
Haruki Murakami
Al Weiwei