On Cats

Charles Bukowski

• Publisher: Ecco
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780062651433
• eBook ISBN: 9780062396013
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Biographies
• Index: Literature

“Acclaimed writer Charles Bukowski turns his signature eye on the world of felines. A series of essays and poems all about cats, Bukowski’s classic funny and frank tone becomes, at times, even endearing as he explores and honors the majestic creatures and our relationship with them.” —Bustle

Felines touched a vulnerable spot in the unfathomable soul of Charles Bukowski, the Dirty Old Man of American letters. For the iconic American author, there was something elemental about these inscrutable creatures, whose searing gaze could penetrate deep into our beings. Bukowski considered cats to be forces of nature, elusive emissaries of beauty and love.

Funny and moving, On Cats offers a collection of Charles Bukowski poems and essays on these beloved animals and their toughness and resiliency. Poignant and free of treacle, On Cats is an illuminating portrait of this one-of-a-kind artist and his unique view of the world, witnessed through his relationship with the animals he considered among his most profound teachers.

"The more cats you have, the longer you live. If you have a hundred cats, you’ll live ten times longer than if you have ten. Someday this will be discovered, and people will have a thousand cats and live forever." -Charles Bukowski

• Gritty and Poignant Prose: Discover a portrait of the artist through his relationship with the animals he considered his most profound teachers, all told in his signature, unsentimental style.
• A Poet's View of Felines: Explore Bukowski’s vision of cats not as mere pets, but as inscrutable, elemental forces of nature—elusive emissaries of beauty and love.
• Unsentimental Animal Observations: The ‘Dirty Old Man of American letters’ turns his famously frank and funny eye to the world of cats, finding a vulnerable spot in his own unfathomable soul.
• Iconic and Unflinching Voice: A series of moving, funny, and illuminating musings on the toughness and resiliency of his favorite animal, captured in a one-of-a-kind collection.

Contents

1. Sources
2. Acknowledgments
3. About the Authors
4. Also by Charles Bukowski
5. Credits
6. Copyright
7. About the Publisher

Beeker

All the eating places were closed at that time of the night and it was a long ride into town. I couldn’t take him back to my room, so I had to take a chance on Millie. She always had plenty of food. At any rate, she always had cheese.

I was right. She made us cheese sandwiches with coffee. The cat knew me and leaped into my lap.

I put the cat on the floor.

“Watch, Mr. Burnett,” I said.

“Shake hands!” I said to the cat. “Shake hands!”

The cat just sat there.

“That’s funny, it always used to do it,” I said. “Shake hands!”

I remembered Shipkey had told Mr. Burnett that I talked to birds.

“Come on now! Shake hands!”

I began to feel foolish.

“Come on! Shake hands!”

I put my head right down by the cat’s head and put everything I had into it.

“Shake hands!”

The cat just sat there.

I went back to my chair and picked up my cheese sandwich.

“Cats are funny animals, Mr. Burnett. You can never tell. Millie, put on Tchaikovsky’s 6th for Mr. Burnett.”

We listened to the music. Millie came over and sat in my lap. She just had on a negligee. She dropped down against me. I put my sandwich to one side.

“I want you to notice,” I said to Mr. Burnett, “the section which brings forth the marching movement in this symphony. I think it’s one of the most beautiful movements in all music. And besides its beauty and force, its structure is perfect. You can feel intelligence at work.”

The cat jumped up into the lap of the man with the goatee. Millie laid her cheek against mine, put a hand on my chest. “Where ya been, baby boy? Millie’s missed ya, ya know.”

The record ended and the man with the goatee took the cat off his lap, got up and turned the record over. He should have found record #2 in the album. By turning it over we would get the climax rather early. I didn’t say anything, though, and we listened to it end.

“How did you like it?” I asked.

“Fine! J...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Sources
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Also by Charles Bukowski
• Credits
• Copyright
• About the Publisher