''The Cat Who Came for Christmas'' is the first book in a trilogy written by
Cleveland Amory
Cleveland Amory (September 2, 1917 – October 14, 1998) was an American author, reporter, television critic, commentator and animal rights activist. He originally was known for writing a series of popular books poking fun at the pretensions an ...
, an American author who wrote extensively about animal rights. Amory recounts his rescue and adoption of Polar Bear, a cat he featured in two future books. It was first published by
Little, Brown and Company in 1987 and then in paperback by
Penguin Books in 1988.
Plot summary
Amory, a writer and animal rights activist (but not a cat person), finds a stray cat while walking down an alley one snowy
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipatio ...
. Amory takes the cat to his apartment and acclimates him to living indoors. Polar Bear meets a number of Amory's celebrity friends and acquaintances, including
Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...
,
Walter Cronkite, and
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American actor, director, and producer who had a celebrated career on both stage and screen. With a gruff demeanor and commanding presence, Scott became known for his port ...
.
Amory also details his animal rights work at the time.
Reception
''
Kirkus Reviews'' wrote that the book was "utterly delightful and humorous, and a treasure for anyone who's ever been 'owned by a cat.'"
''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' wrote: "Amory offers an entertaining, if precious, re-creation of his first year with Polar Bear (his account of selecting a name takes 20 pages)."
Mary Daniels in ''
Chicago Tribune'' wrote, "Amory makes seamless transitions between what might otherwise be unrelated material by using Polar Bear as a sub-theme throughout the book."
The first edition was #8 on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list on November 29, 1987. It spent 20 weeks on the list. The 1988 paperback edition was #3 on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list on October 30, 1988. It reached #1, remaining in that place for 5 weeks. ''New York Times'' listed it as the #5 top paperback nonfiction book of 1988. The paperback returned to the ''New York Times'' bestseller list in fall 1988 at #3, the next month reaching #1.
Audiobook, sequels, and combined edition
The audiobook is read by Alan Sklar.
''The Cat Who Came for Christmas'' has two sequels:
* ''The Cat and the Curmudgeon''. Little, Brown & Company, 1990.
* ''The Best Cat Ever''. Little, Brown & Company, 1993.
The three books were published in one volume in 1995 under the title ''The Compleat Cat''.
References
Non-fiction books about cats
American memoirs
{{animal-rights-book-stub