- Paperback: 112 pages
- Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (Jan 31 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0142000256
- ISBN-13: 978-0142000250
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.9 x 0.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 100 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #390,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Kirkus Reviews
The septuagenarian beatnik would seem to be the least likely author of a cat book, but Burroughs has clearly mellowed some and here celebrates his favorite ``psychic companions.'' Full of sentimental anecdotes and bizarre pseudo-scholarly lore, his slim essay is, in his view, ``an allegory, in which the writer's past life is presented to him in a cat charade.'' Fans will indeed appreciate the references to beat legend, and the cats who witnessed those days in Tangier, Morocco, and Mexico City. The usual gang of suspects makes the briefest of cameos, from Allen Ginsberg to Jane Bowles. And then there are Burroughs's cats-- Ruski, Fletch, Horatio, Wimpy, et al.--none of whom does anything beyond acting like a cat. Of course, Burroughs adds some incoherent stuff about dogs (with their ``vilest coprographic perversions'') and about cats as natural enemies of the State. Lurid dreams of hybrids and mutants fill out a book also concerned with ``cuteness ratings.'' The hipster's (and hepcat's) answer to Cleveland Amory. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"The Cat Inside is about how Burroughs's contact with cats put him in touch with himself. Cats have changed his dreams; they are psychic guides who have allowed his wounded inner child to come out." —Harper's Bazaar
"Burroughs's book is about cats the way The Grapes of Wrath is about fruit. . . These are haunting images, from dreams, memory and present day, ranging from unabashed affection to outrage and indignation." —Los Angeles Times
"Burroughs's book is about cats the way The Grapes of Wrath is about fruit. . . These are haunting images, from dreams, memory and present day, ranging from unabashed affection to outrage and indignation." —Los Angeles Times
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
May 4, 1985. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
May 4, 1985. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
As my cat sits on my lap,
By
This review is from: The Cat Inside (Paperback)
From his exasperating need to be at the highest point in the room, to his function as a wrist rest while I type, my cat is a psychic companion. Loki is a classic "one-man-cat", though he will stray when I am not available. This book is so true on many levels, even the wild fantasies... Definitely one for the library.
5.0 out of 5 stars
For anyone and their "Cat Within",
By Chapulina R (Tovarischi Imports, USA/RUS) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cat Inside (Hardcover)
The Elder Statesman of the Beat Generation is best known for the fantastic creatures of his drug-induced fantasies and nightmares: the Reptiles and Mugwumps of "Naked Lunch", the ramora-like pseudo-human parasites of "Junkie", and others too loathesome to mention. In contrast, in this slim volume, William S. Burroughs introduces us to the real-life creatures who accompanied him throughout his tumultuous career and particularly during his old age. These are his numerous and beloved cats, with names like Calico Jane, Fletch, Rooski, Wimpy, and Ed. Any cat-person will identify with Burroughs' pleasure in the affection and antics of his feline friends and his heart-breaking grief in their loss. But it would be a mistake to label this book of recollections a "Warm & Fuzzy". Burroughs' affiliation with the Cat is on a quite archetypal level. He reveals a recurring sensation from his earliest childhood of cuddling a small, trusting, but long-unidentifiable creature, and to realize much later he was "cast in the role of the Guardian, to create and nurture a creature that is part cat, part human, and part something as yet unimaginable, which might result from a union that has not taken place for millions of years". This resembles the vaguely disturbing imagery of classic Burroughs, to be sure. But there comes to him a startling revelation "...and now the creature is clearly recognized as a cat spirit, a Familiar. I postulate that cats started as psychic companions, as Familiars, and have never deviated from this function." This is a shamanic departure from typical Burroughs or his contemporaries. But Bill's most "off-Beat" book will surely strike a chord with anyone who has -- or is! -- a cat Inside.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Poetic, Soft, and Generous,
By A Customer
This review is from: Cat Inside (Hardcover)
Every cat lover should read this book. This is such a touching account of the cats that come and go in Burroughs' life, with which every human graced by feline presence will identify. Burroughs is poetic, soft, and generous here. Who could have known the same man to write 'Junkie' and 'Naked Lunch' would be inspired to write a Warm Fuzzy?
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