Making the Most of All Nine Lives—Book Review

Some cats get out and about more than others do, but at least one cat, a handsome orange tabby named Buffy, gets out and about more than many people do. Buffy is what you might call “inspirationally active.”

Photographic documentation

Of course, when you’re an inspirationally active cat, you want to have your activities documented so you can share them with the world. Accordingly, Buffy has had his staff put together a photo book that shows everyone—felines and humans alike—just how to do this “life” thing. It’s called Making the Most of All Nine Lives: The Extraordinary Life of Buffy the Cat. The pages of this small book show Buffy at his best, whether he’s pumping gas, grocery shopping, or teeing up for a golf shot.

Wait… You didn’t know that cats did any of those things? Well, most cats don’t. (I refer you to the words “extraordinary” and “inspirationally active” above.) But Buffy isn’t most cats; when he isn’t napping or doing other ordinary cat stuff, he gets out there and does things. It’s just lucky for us that Buffy convinced his human, Paul Smulson, to follow him around with a camera and document his activities. He also convinced author Sandy Robins to translate his Buffy-speech into something humans can understand, resulting in captions that let us know exactly what this cat has to say. When you think about it, it’s lucky for us that the humans were able to keep up so we can enjoy Buffy’s day-to-day accomplishments.

Entertaining and fun

Buffy’s book is certainly entertaining, and it’s easy to relate to this cat-about-town. After all, who hasn’t wanted to be Batman, if only for an evening of trick-or-treating (on a way-cool trike, no less)? Or sit in as a judge in a courtroom? Karate chop a board into submission? Go along with the police to bust some bad guys? Buffy has done all that, and a whole lot more. 

Making the Most of All Nine Lives is a fun book. We’ve found ourselves picking it up to browse through the photos again and again, partly because one of us (She of Little Talent) can’t get enough of Buffy in his Batman costume. We had one small beef with the font used in the book’s front matter. We wished the designers had chosen something more readable, at least for the acknowledgments and introduction, as old SoLT’s failing eyes had trouble making out the text. But that’s a relatively small complaint, since the main point of the book is the photos and captions, and those are wonderful…and inspirationally active.

Recommended!

(A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!)

Come to the book launch on the first annual National Tabby Day!

If you want to be inspirationally active, come on out to Bideawee Animal Shelter in New York City on April 30 to meet Buffy’s staff and get their autographs, and adopt a cat on National Tabby Day. Watch this space to learn more about the events and to meet a few of the cats you might meet at Bideawee that day.

When: Saturday, April 30, 2016, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Where: Bideawee Animal Shelter, 410 E 38th Street, New York, NY 10016

Buy from Amazon.