Heather Busch

Such an incredible find amongst the Savers book selection. What may appear as a funny gift book with pictures of cats and inspirational quotes is seemingly a thoroughly researched and, in perfect cat fashion, quite dramatically written book on cat art. Cats who are artists. The history of cat art, profiles on cat artists and their styles, complete with detailed theorization and analysis. I honestly cannot figure out if this book is a joke, I certainly didn’t think so when I was first show more flipping through, but if it is, it seriously had me fooled and I guess I want to believe I live in a world that cat art is taken this seriously.

Meet cats such as Bootsie, whose aggressive style allows viewers to sense his thoughts and feelings through his paintings, or Smokey, the “Romantic Ruralist”, who indicates where in nature he would like his humans to set up his easel and paints by enthusiastically urinating to mark the area. If you’re not a fan of paintings, perhaps you’ll be interested by other forms of artistic expressions such as the complete destruction of an arm chair which creates an orifice for passage, or arranging yarn across the floor as a sort of pattern as a fiber art installation.

Perhaps you always wondered why cats are so drawn to the works of Vincent Van Gogh, it may be due to the likeness of his swirling paint strokes to the swirling of their own fur. If this review doesn’t entice you, then perhaps the depth and beauty of cat art is just too refined for you. show less

A hysterical send up of art critics and cat lovers, all in one very, very dry mix. Wonderful photos, snarky jibes - what's not to like? One of the funniest books I've ever read. Read it and giggle continuously.

Yeah, it is about cats painting; but it is REALLY about the art-elitists, and their desire to seem more "cultured" than thou. A dead mouse becomes an "installation piece". Surely you can see the art in that? What, you can't? You mean you just THREW IT AWAY?? Clearly you don't know "art" when you see it.

A fabulous parody. My cat's "installation pieces" (whatever they may be) wind up where they belong: in the city landfill.

I love this and I'm not sure if it would be better as a self-aware joke or as dead serious art criticism. Either way it's a good read.