Oh Hark! The feline fraternity is in news now. True ailurophiles are book lovers too ! As Emily Toth after reviewing the book – ‘Meow Mix: The Cat Book of Virtues’ said – “It’s said in publishing that no cat book ever loses money. Maybe it’s true: bibliophiles tend to be ailurophiles, and both are tenacious breeds.”
Cat lovers are truly besotted with these feline creatures and feel their lives are incomplete without their companionship.. and incomplete even without having and reading books on cats with their cat. The Catnama co-authored by Sunil Sharma and Santosh Bakaya is a beautiful & true effort to get cats back into literature. With delightful storytelling and musings this book is an ode to the cat fraternity! Many famous books have been earlier written on cats being the subject, such as Kafka on the Shore, Calvin and Hobbes, the Cheshire Cat, The Master and Margarita and now this book The Catnama is an attempt to make cats the agents of change!
A little about the two renowned writers:
Sunil Sharma PhD (English), apart from being a literary editor and author of 25 published books, he is also the winner of the Nissim International Prize for Excellence in English Literature for the year 2022 for his political novel, Minotaur.
Santosh Bakaya is an academician, essayist-novelist-poet, TEDx speaker and the recipient of Reuel International Award for Literature for her long poem, Oh Hark! Her poetry has been translated into many languages and figures in international anthologies.
A line from the chapter ‘Cats, Murakami and a Mystery Encounter’ by Sunil Sharma- “On certain moments of disjunctions mostly unpredicted your favourite writer or text enters your life through these voids, crevices and guides you onwards” I cannot agree more with this beautiful line and I am certain that it resonates with many of us..
Reading through the book, each story gently reminded me of my love for these feline creatures and my wish and desire to get one home peaks!!
The book has gripping and intriguing stories from both the authors whose love for cats is evident through their writings. A few of my favourites are –
The Mystery of a vanishing cat
Cats, Murakami and a Mystery Encounter
The Professor
The Brittle Boy
The Purrfect Story
and
The Canny Cat’s Confession – which is a heart melting ode for a dog named Bholu from a cunning cranky cat.
The wait is over. The book’s now available on Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/194U3qF
The Fabulous Feline Fables in this book makes it an interesting read. This book is for every cat lover and every cat non-lover to transform into a cat lover!
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Preeti S.Manaktala is currently serving as a Features Editor for Rhyvers Press and has been a former Chapter Head for Bangalore, Asian Literary Society ( ALS ). She is a published author, poet, blogger and a contributing writer to various online sites and magazines. She has won many accolades, awards and recognition for her poetry contribution to various online poetry contests. She recently won “The Poiesis Award for Poetic Excellence” at the 12th Rabindranath Tagore Awards 2023. A former teacher and a montessorian, she is a firm believer in the saying – “My Life is My Making!” Her poetry and short stories have been a part of many national and international anthologies encompassing many genres.
