How to Live With a Calculating Cat by Eric Gurney

I haven't a clue where I got this 1962 comedic paperback from. I was cleaning out my home office and found it buried under a pile of assorted things that my wife and I had been throwing into the room indiscriminately. The book is only 141 pages. So, before taking it to a used book shop or a thrift store, I figured 'what the heck' and gave this book a quick read. 

How to Live With a Calculating Cat reads like a parody manual for new cat owners. From the history of cats to how to name them; proper feeding techniques to how to integrate them with the family dog- there's a wide range of topics that first time cat lovers would need info on. 

Peppered heavily throughout the advice are illustrations that highlight the author's points in hilarious fashion. These cartoons are just as funny, if not more hilarious than the expert satire written in prose. Some of the artwork is done like those informative illustrations found in textbooks- only with a humorous slant. But a good half of these sketches are similar in the type of humor you'd see as filler material in the pages of Reader's Digest; only the subject matter of all of these lampoons are feline. 

The author and illustrator of this work is Eric Gurney. Some of you might be familiar with the name. That's because Eric illustrated a number of Random House Beginner Books such as The Digging-est Dog and The King, The Mice and The Cheese, which he wrote with wife Nancy Gurney. Unbeknownst to many, Eric Gurney was also behind a large chunk of our childhood as he was the story writer behind such Disney classics as Bambi and Pinocchio. 

How to Live With a Calculating Cat was an enjoyable read. I got a few chuckles out of the prose parts of this book. I laughed a lot at the cartoons as many of those jokes reminded me of my 45-years plus as a cat lover and owner. 

This book must have been a hit because a sequel was issued in 1978. That book lists a Nancy Prevo as providing the text. I checked to see if Nancy Prevo was the same Nancy who wrote those children's books with Eric Gurney. She wasn't. Instead, Nancy Prevo was the second wife of Eric Gurney. (BOTH NAMED NANCY!) Prevo probably went by her maiden name in order to not cause a licensing conflict with the works Eric Gurney created with the previous wife Nancy. But that's mostly speculation.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.