Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9781399608688
From the cat-fanatical literary phenomenon Sir Terry Pratchett, via the unquestionable wisdom of his fictional feline creation Maurice, herein is contained everything you’ll ever need to know to identify the real, unadulterated cat! Rediscover Sir Terry’s 1989 guide to separating Real Cats from the riff raff – now featuring artwork from the creative minds behind the Amazing Maurice film and a new intro by Rhianna Pratchett!
As more and more of us settle for those boring mass-produced cats the Ad Men and influencers sell us – the filtered felines that purr into their gold-plated food bowls with unruffled fur and without a ‘blep’ in sight – the Campaign for Real Cats sets out to help us to recognise a true, unadulterated cat when we see one!
For example: real cats have ears that look like they’ve been trimmed with pinking shears; real cats never wear flea collars…or appear on Christmas cards… or chase anything with a bell in it; real cats do eat quiche. And giblets. And butter. And anything else left on the table, if they think they can get away with it. Real cats can hear a fridge door opening two rooms away…
Featuring fifty illustrations and artwork from the creative minds behind the Amazing Maurice film, plus introduction by Rhianna Pratchett rediscover Sir Terry’s wit and wisdom from the original edition and re-educate yourself on how to separate Real Cats from the riff raff!
My Review
This is not a Discworld book. Terry Pratchett was a cat collector, or he was collected by a lot of cats. He clearly had strong opinions on what made a ‘real cat’ and he’s bloody hilarious doing it. There are anecdotes about Houdini cats who get into and out of locked bungalows, where cats can come from, and the Schrodinger travelling cat hypothesis. That last one does make sense. Where do all the random cats come from?
This edition has illustrations from the new Amazing Maurice animated film, rather than the original illustrations. They’re not bad. I haven’t seen the film or the original illustrations so I can’t make comparisons. I loved Rhianna Pratchett’s introduction, it is full of love for her father and their clowder of cats over the years. Some of the names they had are hilarious.
If you love STPs work, then you might want to pick up this book.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 