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: 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: 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: note to reviewer of reviews--- please......
Review: hey, do me a favor, I wrote Keep on Drummin" after "Delighted" because I thought "Delighted" didn't get sent. Would you kindly DELETE "Keep on Drummin" as it's really a poor quality repeat of the first review. Thanks very much for your patience. karoe
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: surprisingly entertaining
Review: I want to say first, this book is far, far superior to "I and Claudius." Where Clare de Vries comes off not so much self-obsessed as narcissistic, Stacy Horn just comes off as a regular confused person who has a way with words and a wonderful way of making you want to go exploring in a graveyard. Someone sent me the book and I'm almost done with it two days later--and yes, I'm writing this review with two or three chapters to go; that's how much I liked this book. I wasn't expecting to like it all that much; the title struck me as a bit self-consciously precious. But I most certainly did.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond Delighted to Find This Book!
Review: I won't go on and on here about Miss (she loves "Miss") Horn's talent for observation and expression. If you read the book and liked it, you've already experienced that. Let me just put down some ideas, and I'll save the rest for the letter that I will certainly write her. First, I absolutely love it when humor is found in a hopeless situation; it's easily the gag that makes me laugh the hardest as it kind of plays on a bunch of your emotions at the same time. Stacey's situation (her singleness, her age) is particularly funny/poignant to me because, I like many women in their forties, find myself in the same boat, and year after year, it doesn't change. It seems to me, girls, that all we can do about it is laugh. Second, I believe that Stacy is not merely recounting her own experience as a 40-something still-single woman; she is instead one of the first voices to chronicle a social trend. Let's face it, Stacey could have a relationship/marriage if she wanted to, she's attractive and charming, but she chooses not to. She says this too, but perhaps not in those words. Tracey and I are in very good company. Some others of you may recognize yourselves as members of this club, too. Attractive, clever, accomplished women don't need to settle and endure an unfulfilling relationship simply because they DON'T HAVE TO ANYMORE. The social pressure is still there, but it's less; the economic pressure is gone. What Tracy documents so effectively in her memoir is the emotional aspect of this sitation, the part you can't make "fit" as a single, because you have a natural desire to love and connect, and no outlet. Enter the cats. Hey, at least they GIVE back! I'll stop here...the book that should be recommended along with this is The Improvised Woman: Single Women Rinventing Single Life, by M. Clements and those like it. There is a website called Scholars of Single Women Network which belongs to a college professor, Bella M. DePaulo. I hope it catches on, it would be nice to find such a community. Bravo Tracey. Keep on drummin'!
Rating:
Summary: This is what life is REALLY about!
Review: It was like reading a letter from my best friend. I laughed (a lot) and I cried. Her interviews of elderly people touched my soul. I thought about how important it is for all of us to know how our own loved ones feel about their lives, their work, their place in this world. Stacy is so human. This book helped me feel like my ups and downs are okay. It's okay to be 40 and single. And it's okay to love your cats. There's alot of people (men and women) that are captured within these pages. Stacy's book is so easy to read. She repeats chapter titles so you know she's going to revisit that subject matter. It's hard to put the book down. I truly hope Stacy undertakes another masterpiece very soon!
Rating:
Summary: so NOT Bridget Jones --- she rocks!
Review: Stacey Horn is a real 40-something woman in New York City. She runs an online community and has two aging sick cats who she has to medicate every 12 hours. She also drums (badly) in a band and has various love affairs and crushes. She also writes (as evidenced by the existence of this book) -- throughout the book she interviews the elderly for insights into life. Horn doesn't claim to be vastly entertaining -- in fact, she claims just the opposite in the beginning of the book, letting the reader know that if any chapter is boring, don't worry -- it will be short and she will have moved on to another topic. Stacey is witty as she writes what she observes. And it's emotional as well -- when she writes about her sick cat nearing the end, it's hard not to cry for her. I like this book because it is just the mosaic of one woman's life who has the guts to share it, while knowing she is not the target demographic of fashion mags, and wondering if she'll ever meet a man with whom to share it all. It's a welcome change from all the chick-lit books of 20-something and 30-somethings who know some man will come along and make their horrid job bearable because they are no longer lonely. Horn IS alone, but she is not lonely, she wants to meet a man but she is not waiting for him nor looking all that hard. She is simply waiting for her cats to die.
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