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A review by maedo
Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper
3.0
Cat ladies! Particularly other cat ladies in your 20's: do not be afraid to be seen reading this book. Do not be embarrassed by it. It is about a woman who had three cats at the age of 25, yes, but not about how she can't wait to collect more or how she never leaves her apartment or how she pees in soda bottles or how the same animals will one day feed off of her rotting, lonely corpse.
It is about, broadly, how living with animals (each with a unique personality and needs) can change the way we think and act, how the long-term care of a pet helps us to grow up and define what traits in people are important to us. I've never seen that articulated so well before (and I will admit I probably haven't read enough pet memoirs since, oh, this is my first and all), but I realized that it's true.
Last year I fell in love with an art student who, when I asked what he liked to paint, thought for a moment and said, "My mom's cats." It was equal parts hilarious and sweet. A person I am spending some time with now, who may or may not be wanting more than friendship, made a first real impression on me when he liked some Facebook photos of my cats. Anyone can win me over by saying my cats are cute or wanting to meet my cats.
It has nothing to do with interest in cats equaling interest in me, but because I love my cats and value their individual quirks and personalities (Hugo's throaty warble-meow and insatiable desire for pettings or the way Tyrone wakes me up at 2 AM by bumping his head against me, purring and kneading my shoulder) as anyone would a child's. Sometimes I am a little embarrassed by how much of a cat lady I am. But I am not embarrassed to love Tyrone and Hugo like I do.
Cooper's blind cat Homer teaches her one of the most beautiful -- and simple -- life lessons I've read in a while, which is that when you meet a person or an animal with a fundamentally good and lovely core, you should make no excuses that keep you from building your life around theirs. Raising her curious, rambunctious, loyal, joyous blind cat Homer helped her to stop looking for a certain "look" in the men she dates, and start looking more at the core to find someone necessary. You know, I hate when memoirs that are by women but not "about" dating talk a lot about dating and men and relationships anyway, but that is most definitely a value I can get behind. Mazel tov!
It is about, broadly, how living with animals (each with a unique personality and needs) can change the way we think and act, how the long-term care of a pet helps us to grow up and define what traits in people are important to us. I've never seen that articulated so well before (and I will admit I probably haven't read enough pet memoirs since, oh, this is my first and all), but I realized that it's true.
Last year I fell in love with an art student who, when I asked what he liked to paint, thought for a moment and said, "My mom's cats." It was equal parts hilarious and sweet. A person I am spending some time with now, who may or may not be wanting more than friendship, made a first real impression on me when he liked some Facebook photos of my cats. Anyone can win me over by saying my cats are cute or wanting to meet my cats.
It has nothing to do with interest in cats equaling interest in me, but because I love my cats and value their individual quirks and personalities (Hugo's throaty warble-meow and insatiable desire for pettings or the way Tyrone wakes me up at 2 AM by bumping his head against me, purring and kneading my shoulder) as anyone would a child's. Sometimes I am a little embarrassed by how much of a cat lady I am. But I am not embarrassed to love Tyrone and Hugo like I do.
Cooper's blind cat Homer teaches her one of the most beautiful -- and simple -- life lessons I've read in a while, which is that when you meet a person or an animal with a fundamentally good and lovely core, you should make no excuses that keep you from building your life around theirs. Raising her curious, rambunctious, loyal, joyous blind cat Homer helped her to stop looking for a certain "look" in the men she dates, and start looking more at the core to find someone necessary. You know, I hate when memoirs that are by women but not "about" dating talk a lot about dating and men and relationships anyway, but that is most definitely a value I can get behind. Mazel tov!