Book Review – You Are A Cat! by Sherwin Tjia2 min read

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youareacatwebsmall

You Are A Cat! 
by Sherwin Tjia

Conundrum Press, Oct. 2011,
240 pages, 80 b/w illustrations $17 (Paperback)

Reviewed by Elliot Chan.

As someone who finds felines endearing and adorable—but is also allergic to them—I’m trapped in a love-hate relationship with those sometimes cuddly and sometimes savage domesticated beasts. Regardless of your own personal experience with cats, Sherwin Tjia’s choose-your-own-adventure-style story, You Are a Cat, will offer a fictionalized insight of what it takes to walk a mile with paws and claws.

You are Holden Catfield, or should I say, I was Holden Catfield, the beloved cat to an average family of four—or at least everything on the exterior seemed average. What began as a relaxing day chasing squirrels turned dark as each decision I took led me to discover the shadowy intentions of humans. Tjia paced the story brilliantly, moving from the monotony of a catnapping tale to a daring escape, and then becoming a wallflower, overlooking the misdeeds of the family.

Tjia’s subtly placed illustrations offer a sometimes menacing and sometimes tantalizing viewpoint from a cat’s perspective. With only the extension of the paw, I, as well as Holden, could clearly see the expression of each human face and recognize the looks of adoration, danger and guilt.

Although my adventure ended in a tragically anticlimactic fashion, yours might not. You Are a Cat is a fantastic light read that you can pick up over and over again and find new adventures, because the brief excursions of Holden Catfield allow it. Where does your cat go when you let it wander out the door or the window? Who does it meet? That’s your cat’s decision. Unless you keep constant surveillance on it, you’ll never know.

You Are a Cat is not only an exploration of what it is to be a pet, but also what it’s like to interact with animals. Take a look at your own pet and ask yourself: what weird stuff has my cat seen me doing? You should feel a little embarrassed after reading it.

I recommend you choose your own adventure, but if you want to read the story I read, here are my page-turning choices in You Are a Cat:

2, 6, 17, 23, 170, 27, 49, 142, 10, 35, 92, 104, 124, 119, 128, 134, 143, 136, 140, 64, 86, 182, 81, 174, 84, 186, 177, 189, 194, 199, 200, THE END

 

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