Men (of Literature) with Cats
Cat ladies get all the press. While much less documented, men love their cats, too! We've imagined the perfect feline companions for these men from literature, because hey, everyone needs a four-legged friend.
Man: BFG (Big Friendly Giant by Roald Dahl)
Cat: BFE (Big Fluffy Ears)
“After a long, late night of blowing bottled dreams into children’s bedrooms, I saw the glowing eyes of a large animal in an alley. It was a lynx! He was much larger than an average alley cat, and like me, his size might intimidate regular folks. He was standoffish at first, but once I offered him a bowl of frobscottle he began to follow me and hasn’t left my side since. We whizpopped the whole way back home to Giant Country that night. I named him ‘BFE’ on account of his big fluffy ears.”
Man: Caesar Flickerman from The Hunger Games
Cat: Sabreena
“If there is anyone more camera-ready than me, it’s my darling cat, Sabreena. She’s the most extraordinary cat in The Capitol. Her tender personality and marvelous hairstyles inspire me to bring my best to the studio every day. She is my special somebody; my rock. Smiling for the audience and putting a positive spin during interviews with children who are going to die for our entertainment is not easy. It is very heavy and exhausting work. But when I come home to Sabreena, her cuteness and affection lightens my heart again. I forget work and we are able to enjoy The Games just like an average man and his fabulous feline.”
Man: Jack Torrance from The Shining
Cat: Grady
“Grady was in room 217 when we arrived at the Overlook Hotel. I say I found him in the kitchen though, because room 217 is strictly off limits. There is an aura of detachment about him that I find rather refreshing; it’s as if he isn’t even really there. But sometimes he walks all over my typewriter so I can never get any work done. When I try to shoo him off, he shows his volatile temper with a piercing hiss. A very willful cat. A rather naughty cat. The more I come to like Grady, the more I grow to hate my own wife and child.”
Man: Sherlock Holmes from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Cats: Sherman (left) and Walter
“All great detectives (and cats) deserve companionship. While I have my dear Watson, Sherman has Walter. They are a rather inquisitive pair. They thoughtfully inspect the smells of any new person, they study the effects of gravity by nudging various objects off of my desk, and they examine the human response to a bedtime claw-attack at 3am. When I try to find the simplest explanation to their peculiarity, I quickly realize there is no elementary explanation for a cat’s behavior. And since we’ve taken them into our home, I’ve been investigating the ongoing Mystery of the Fireplace Feces.”
Check out Men with Cats: Intimate Portraits of Feline Friendship by David Williams for more (real) men with their cats!
