Rating: 
Summary: Why Not a Sequel?!
Review: This book informative but it's also hilarious. It taught me a lot about the feline mind and all that stuff; and it had such funny pictures! Any cat lover must get this book. the only downside to this book is that it's so expensive. I would get it from amazon.com because at the store it's 18 dollars. But 15 is still very high for such a small book.
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Summary: Dawning of a new evolutionary epoch
Review: This book is a great inspiration. Of course, WE have known, since THEY were learning to walk on all-twos, how to express ourselves esthetically. But only with this book is there a sign that THEY have realized, and any millenium from now will appreciate, our art and intellect. BTW, between canvasses I've been outlining a new book . . . working title: "Why People Feint" . . . ---- Barnabas von Barn (rjlesq's cat)
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Summary: One of the funniest books I've seen
Review: This book is a wonderful, sly spoof. It's very funny and entertaining with great pictures. I'd like to know how they accomplished the making of the book! A must for cat lovers, especially those with a sense of humor.
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Summary: I guarantee you this is an elaborate hoax!
Review: This book is on the wrong shelf... it belongs in fiction! But its cunning craft earns it a 10! As an archaeologist, art historian and painter I can guarantee you that the historical material presented in the introduction to this book is really an elaborate (yet wackily entertaining) hoax. As for the rest,...?! The most easily spotted fake is the so-called "egyptian papyrus" with a cat's paw stroke in oil paint. For starters, it seems that the the Egyptians did not have oil paints, and if they did then this would be (suspiciously) the only record of their use before the fifteenth century in Venice. Secondly, if you look at oil paintings that are more than a few hundred years old, you will notice that over time the dried paint shrinks and develops a network of tiny cracks. This is especially true if the paint is laid on with a thick impasto stroke (which it is here) and if the material is rolled up. (as papyri usually are) Also, within decades, the oil will seep out of the paint and visibly stain absorbent and unprimed painting surfaces. (such as this papyrus) No cracking or staining is visible, which seems a bit odd after five millennia. Thirdly, the papyrus simply looks too new to be true. Go to the museum and look at a real papyrus and then you tell me... So, if the historical introduction is faked, then who knows if the rest of the feline artworks are genuine, coached, or outright fakes?! Nevertheless, even if this book gets bumped over to the fiction shelf, it is still an entertaining urban myth, a great satire of the oh-so-pompous Art World and a great coffee-table book to perplex your friends and stimulate a fun debate. See for yourself!
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Summary: ANTHROPOMORPHISING FELINE BEHAVIOR
Review: This is a great coffee table book, and even a reasonably priced one for an art book at that. It's sure to become a conversation piece among the cat lovers and lovers of modern art.
The brief exposition of the humans anthropomorphizing feline markings throughout history is very informative, but the rest of the book interpreting the cats markings as art is too intricate and is absolutely required to make sense of the cat paintings, which lends credence to the biologists' assertion that feline artwork is really territorial markings.
Human mind has the capacity to make sense of everything, the art scene can be too full of itself, and if this was supposed to be a parody, the humor was lost on me and my initial impression was that this book was done as a gallery promotion piece for marketing the feline artwork. Unfortunately the writers and the commentators went overboard and wound up supporting the scientific thesis of marking as territorial behavior that they were trying to debunk.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't take the book seriously--have fun!
Review: This is a truly fun book--provided if you don't take this book, or it's creators, seriously. The presentation is great and so are the photos. As a painter and cat owner myself, this book makes me laugh at the mere sight of cats 'painting'. I only hope these cats were not severely mistreated! Take a look at the MONPA website and view their video of this cat 'painting' and it's quite clear that it is easy to fake. (How would you know if that's the cat's own paw dabbing paint on a surface??!) Same with 'Dancing with Cats' (they also made a book on it!). They're dancing with toy cats in the studio, with the explaination that cats don't like new environments. Nice explaination, but it doesn't mean that's proof. There's no videographic evidence of dancing cats either. So, please, this is nothing more than a very creative and original hoax. Don't give your cats paint. Don't dance with them. Love and cherish them. They are your pets, not your toys. It's not natural for cats to do any of these things. I've seen nutcases forcing their cats to dip their paws in paint to create 'pawtraits', and the cat is screaming in protest. And swinging a cat around during 'dancing' isn't a good idea. Although the authors of Why Cats Paint seem serious, don't take this book seriously and don't try this at home!
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Summary: POOH PERPLEX, move over, you've finally got company!
Review: This is absolutely the finest send-up of critics and criticism as an occupation to be published since The Pooh Perplex, a Freshman Casebook by Frederick C. Crews, found its audience in my youth.
But it has a little extra something that Perplex lacked, and that is a full-color layout supporting the wicked satire in set in type that most folks don't even read the first time out, the illustrative material is so engaging.
Exquisitely crafted, beautifully illustrated, this book can also give any cat owner who has attempted to train his or her puss to do something -- anything! -- farther afield than using a litter box or luring the wily beast into arm's reach using the can opener some food for serious thought. Such as: how did they get Bootsie to take a run at that wall, paws loaded with paint.
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Summary: book of the year!
Review: This is by far the most original book I have EVER come across. A great gift for anyone who has feelings towards these wonderful creatures....
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Summary: Brilliant Coffee Table Book
Review: This is the most brilliant book I have seen in many years. Put a copy on your coffee table, sit vistors near it while you take a while bringing in the afternoon tea, and wait for the response! There are many stories I have heard of just like these. Cats are clever. The authors are even cleverer! It is beautiful to the point of brilliance. The photos of art produced by the cats, the expressions on the cats, and the elaborate setups that bring out their talents. Don't tell your guests it is a hoax. Don't tell anyone. Shhh! That spoils the enjoyment of a very, very clever - and incredibly original - book. It so soooo brilliantly done, backed up with extremely plausible knowledge of feline behaviour and of history.
On the serious side, it does mock all the areas of art and art criticism (and coffee table books) that deserve mocking. But don't mistreat your pets trying all this at home!
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Summary: It always makes me laugh
Review: Whenever I'm feeling cranky or down-in-the-dumps, I pull out this book, and it always makes me laugh. The pictures are delightful, and if you're a cat lover, it makes you want to set up an art studio for your own feline -- after all, what's a little paint all over the walls, windows, and appliances? My favorite part, which makes me chuckle just to think about it, is the commentary on cat sculpture (i.e., shredded furniture). The give-away that this book is a spoof, though, has to be the discussion (and photo) about dead prey being a cat's form of artistic self-expression.
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