The Inner Life of Cats, Thomas McNamee
The Inner Life of Cats, Thomas McNamee
4 Rating(s)
List: $24.98 | Sale: $17.49
Club: $12.49

The Inner Life of Cats
The Science and Secrets of Our Mysterious Feline Companions

Author: Thomas McNamee

Narrator: Bob Reed

Unabridged: 8 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/28/2017

Synopsis

Our feline companions are much-loved but often mysterious. In The Inner Life of Cats, Thomas McNamee blends scientific reportage with engaging, illustrative anecdotes about his own beloved cat, Augusta, to explore and illuminate the secrets and enigmas of her kind.

As it begins, The Inner Life of Cats follows the development of the young Augusta while simultaneously explaining the basics of a kitten's physiological and psychological development. As the narrative progresses, McNamee also charts cats' evolution, explores a feral cat colony in Rome, tells the story of Augusta's life and adventures, and consults with behavioral experts, animal activists, and researchers, who will help readers more fully understand cats.

McNamee shows that with deeper knowledge of cats' developmental phases and individual idiosyncrasies, we can do a better job of guiding cats' maturation and improving the quality of their lives. Readers' relationships with their feline friends will be happier and more harmonious because of this book.

About Thomas McNamee

Thomas McNamee studied writing at Yale under the tutelage of Robert Penn Warren. He is the author of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, The Return of the Wolf to Yellowstone, A Story of Deep Delight, Nature First, and The Grizzly Bear. Thomas's essays, poems, and natural history writing have been published in Audubon, the New Yorker, Life, Natural History, High Country News, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Saveur, and a number of literary journals. He wrote the documentary film Alexander Calder, which received both a George W. Peabody Award and an Emmy. Thomas lives in San Francisco.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Harrison on April 25, 2017

I was expecting this to be about cat psychology, animal intelligence, biological information.. the inner life of cats is about this sort of thing but I feel somewhat lied to by the title and subtitle on the cover. this book is mostly a personal memoir of the author's own cat as well as a general han......more

Goodreads review by Kim on July 13, 2017

The author, Thomas McNamee, is a writer of books about animals who live in the wild (e.g., bears, wolfs). As this is the only book I've read of his, I'm assuming from "The Inner Life of Cats" that his writing style is weighted toward the scholarly as opposed to the popular. Though this book is most......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer on January 20, 2018

DNF 75% through no flaw of its own. I enjoyed the memoir slant and found much of it compulsively readable. Spent a couple of days analyzing the vocalizations of my cat (open mouthed vs closed mouthed sounds - the amount of effort required for the open mouthed meow is definitely commensurate with how......more

Goodreads review by Séanin on November 09, 2018

Got tricked into reading a book about an animal’s life where the animal dies at the end and I’m left sobbing uncontrollably while forcing my cat to stay with me. But the science about how a cat thinks, how they are really still half-wild and may never be fully domesticated and that as their caregive......more

Goodreads review by Cathryn on October 18, 2024

If you love cats—maybe one is even sitting on your lap right now—you need this book. Grounded in science and liberally sprinkled with delightful cat stories and enchanting anecdotes, this book by Thomas McNamee is a cat owner's manual for understanding what's going on behind those beautiful eyes and......more

Quotes

"This deeply researched book helps us understand how our cats experience the world and what they are trying to communicate to us."—Catster

"The Inner Life of Cats is filled with shining prose, moments of sheer cat joy--and intimate, careful scientific observation. Thomas McNamee's naturalist's eye, combined with his humor and heart, bring the always wild, yet domesticated cat into delightful, insightful focus."—Cat Warren, New York Times bestselling author of Whatthe Dog Knows

"Learn how to give your cat an emotionally satisfying life and create a greater bond with you."—Temple Grandin,author of Animals in Translation

"[An] affectionate love letter to his own cat Augusta and a perceptive analysis of feline psychology and biology that shatters common assumptions about these animals."—Library Journal

"Tom McNamee has provided a great service not just to cat lovers but to people like me, who don't much care for them. In this wise, humane, deeply researched book, he makes a persuasive case that these creatures are much more interesting, mysterious, and complicated than we ever gave them credit for. And they probably have misgivings about some of us, too."—Charles McGrath,former editor, New York Times Book Review

"An affectionate yet realistic portrait of felis silvestris catus and a definite boon to anyone contemplating adopting a cat."—Kirkus Reviews

"Cats are fascinating beings who often get the short end of the stick when they're casually and wrongly dismissed as mysterious, solitary, and unemotional animals when compared, for example, to dogs, or when they're accused of being vicious predators on wildlife. In fact, cats, just like Mr. McNamee's beloved Augusta, are highly intelligent, emotional, and sentient animals who have rich and deep inner lives, as well documented in this seminal book in which heartwarming stories and scientific data are nicely woven together. Thomas McNamee's latest book is a much needed corrective and myth-buster for which cat lovers and cats around the world will be most grateful."—Marc Bekoff, author of The Animals' Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, andCoexistence in the Human Age

"Elegant and absorbing, The Inner Life of Cats offers fascinating insights into the interior world of these mysterious and compelling animals. Required reading for anyone who lives with, loves, or has ever wondered about the deep and ancient connections we share with these magnificent creatures."—BarbaraNatterson-Horowitz, MD and Kathryn Bowers, co-authors of Zoobiquity: TheAstonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health

"To see an animal in so many ways: as a scientist, a naturalist, a human being, and a writer of uncommon sensitivity, this is Tom McNamee's The Inner Life of Cats; and this book is a gift."—Dorothy Kalins,founding editor, Saveur

"The Inner Life of Cats is a remarkably charming, intelligent, and heartfelt book about cats and humans. In places it moved me to tears and, at other places, to broad grins. Thomas McNamee has brilliantly combined his own experiences with cats and information gleaned from scientific studies, all in immensely readable pages. Every cat-lover should read this fine book."—Pat Shipman, authorof The Animal Connection: A New Perspective on What Makes Us Human

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List