JasonKoivu

Why? Why? WHY?!

Why in the name of all that is holy does this book exist? Well funny I should ask, because the title of the very first chapter is "Why Write This Book?" Obviously the purpose of A Little Book of Cat Names, its whole existence really was questionable even to its own author. In other chapters questions are posited, like "Does Your Cat Really Know Its Name?". Statements are made: "Your Cat Won't Mind What You Call It" and "Aptness Is All." How-to explanations are given regarding "The Process." And none of the answers or suppositions are satisfactory.

Then begins the naming. Like-minded names are clumped together under headings that suggest what a cat might be called or indicate what a certain kind of cat can be called, and then Walker emphatically dictates what what they are called. For example:


Cats with a patch of a different color over one eye might be called:
Patches
Patchwork
Pirate...

Brown cats can be called:
Nutmeg
Toast
Cocoa...

Blue cats and gray cats are called:
Blue
Bluebell
Bluebird...

Ja, mein Führer!


The name clumps are often preceded by an almost humorous cat quip. The names themselves are mundane or bleeding obvious or make you think "Yes, that is a name and I suppose it could be given to anything..." *crickets*

By the end, the book devolves into a flat out A to Z list of names, all of which already appeared in the previous sections. Some might call this an index. I call it filler. For without it, this fat-fonted book wouldn't top 90 pages. "But it's called A Little Book..." cat naming lovers will cry. Ah but it's not! Something as content-poor as this should be half digest size and fit in your pocket, and unless you're wearing Orson Welles' trousers, that ain't happening.


(And why did I read this? We're having a record heatwave here in central California, so I've been hanging at the library where this little doozie caught my eye. The heat may also account for my grouchiness.)