Waiting for My Cats to Die

Rating:
Summary: Chapter Surfing
Review: A word about the organization of the book. Most books have chapter titles or chapter numbers. Not "Waiting for My Cats to Die." Stacy Horn is a channel surfer who has a specific set of programming she adores (Buffy being one). Her book is organized much like this. She changes topics like channels--cats, death, fantasy, romance, polls, work--and occasionally introduces special programming--interviews. It was an interesting structure, and it fit the work.

I'm a thirty-something with a thirteen year old diabetic cat (thank goodness he doesn't have to compete for the title of 'best subcutaneous drip taking cat'). I stumbled across "Waiting for My Cats to Die" while looking for books about feline diabetes. I'm glad I did, despite mourning a cat I've never met.

I thought her tone was very engaging, and it was an excellent read. I loved how she taught herself to play drums in an area where she wouldn't bother anyone, and her descriptions of the little glories that life has to offer.

Buy it. Check it out of your library. Read the book, you'll be glad you did (but after you hit the middle, get a box of tissues at the ready).

Rating:
Summary: Cat Lovers Beware - you won't be able to stop reading
Review: Having two 19 year old cats of my own, I was hesitant to buy this book, due to severe guilt at empathizing with the title. As my cats' 20th birthday quickly approaches, and I'm having to deal with the thought of losing my roommates, I sucked it up & bought a copy. I am so glad I did.

This woman writes about her life in all its gory, mundane, hilarious detail. She is not model-pretty, with a line of men waiting to bed her, but she is real, funny, adventurous & loving and a bit hilariously obsessed with death

Anyone that lives with cats, especially aging ones, will not be able to stop laughing & crying as she writes about her devotion towards them & her guilt in regards to them.

If you don't live with or even like cats, buy it anyway, you'll be glad you did.

Well worth the read - I wish I had bought it when it had first come out, but I'm really glad I own it now. I will not be selling it, buy a new copy.

Rating:
Summary: The meaning of life
Review: I stumbled across this book by accident. I laughed, I cried, and I learned the meaning of life and death, all from this strange book with its compellingly weird title. It was as though Stacy Horn peered inside my soul, found my secrets, exposed them, and set them free. I don't feel quite as alone in my eccentricities as I did before. Now I'm waiting for her next book - and the tv series.

Rating:
Summary: Truly entertaining and insightful "morbid memoir"
Review: If you are of the philosophy that "the unexamined life is not worth living" then you'll truly enjoy this "morbid memoir" of Stacy Horn's. When I started the book I thought, wow, this woman is a mess! But as I got further into the book, mostly laughing and sometimes crying but always entertained, I thought, wow, I'd really like to be more like her. The author is so endearing, she's continually throwing herself into life, her friendships, her obsession with death, her drumming, and into the New York City community. For some reason she minimizes her intuition and spirit through out the whole book, however that is what screams at you most when reading each of the introspective chapters. Her words about her cats and how she loves and cares for them makes you wish your parents would have been so attentive. Her fascination with death and dying is quite interesting, but not as meaningful as her willingness to totally open up her thoughts and her heart about this topic to the reader. And lastly is the elusive love life /romantic partner that she pines for but has yet to meet...