My Beloved Monster
Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
15
Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "The most brilliant feline portrait in literary history." -People Magazine (Book of the Week) The #1 bestselling author of The Alienist tells the extraordinary story of Masha, a half-wild rescue cat who fought off a bear, tackled Caleb like a linebacker--and bonded with him as tightly as any cat and human possibly can. "Dares us to take a journey into love and pain . . . My Beloved Monster is a love story and a requiem." -Wall Street Journal "Excellent...Worth the emotional investment, and the tissues you will need by the end, to spend time with a writer and cat duo as extraordinary as Masha and Carr." --Washington Post Book World Caleb Carr has had special relationships with cats since he was a young boy in a turbulent household, famously peopled by the founding members of the Beat Generation, where his steadiest companions were the adopted cats that lived with him both in the city and the country. As an adult, he has had many close feline companions, with relationships that have outlasted most of his human ones. But only after building a three-story home in rural, upstate New York did he enter into the most extraordinary of all of his cat pairings: Masha, a Siberian Forest cat who had been abandoned as a kitten, and was languishing in a shelter when Caleb met her. She had hissed and fought off all previous carers and potential adopters, but somehow, she chose Caleb as her savior. For the seventeen years that followed, Caleb and Masha were inseparable. Masha ruled the house and the extensive, dangerous surrounding fields and forests. When she was hurt, only Caleb could help her. When he suffered long-standing physical ailments, Masha knew what to do. Caleb's life-long study of the literature of cat behavior, and his years of experience with previous cats, helped him decode much of Masha's inner life. But their bond went far beyond academic studies and experience. The story of Caleb and Masha is an inspiring and life-affirming relationship for readers of all backgrounds and interests--a love story like no other.
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Serious TW: Author recalls the cats he owned/lived with before Masha. Almost all of them died violently, or disappeared and were presumed dead. There is a graphic description of the carnage that took place when a mom cat's kittens were torn apart by a dog that got into the house (I almost noped out then and there). Frankly, Masha's death is one of the least upsetting ones, as she was humanely put to sleep when her pain was too strong to sustain any quality of life. This is NOT your standard feel-good pet memoir like [b:Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog 12691 Marley and Me Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog John Grogan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308858322l/12691.SY75.jpg 14961] or [b:Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World 3257136 Dewey The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World Vicki Myron https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398144610l/3257136.SY75.jpg 3292360]. Caleb Carr wrote dark, disturbing thrillers (including the bestselling [b:The Alienist 40024 The Alienist (Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, #1) Caleb Carr https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388256626l/40024.SY75.jpg 2266643]) that reflected his own damaged psyche resulting from a traumatic childhood. His “rescuer” Masha, a Siberian Forest Cat, was abused and then abandoned in an empty, locked apartment by her former owner. So their almost mystically strong bond arose from the parallel crises they had endured separately, and continued to experience together. For every heartwarming example of the ways Masha displayed her love and protectiveness, Caleb invokes another flashback to his relationships with previous cats, many of whom died violently. Or he describes one of many life-threatening medical emergencies that man and feline experienced. During their 17 years together, Carr insisted he and Masha had an unspoken, shared pact to stay alive for each other, and Carr's unceasing love and attention must surely have contributed to Masha's recovery from some pretty scary injuries.* Carr mentions scientific research about cat behavior occasionally, but many of his conclusions about the rationale for Masha's behavior are based on his childhood certainty that he was half man and half cat. As with most beloved animal memoirs, My Beloved Monster culminates with Masha's eventual decline and passing. Carr died of cancer two years later, just as this book was being published. I have no problem believing that Carr refused to let go until he knew Masha's story would be told. I hope that they found each other in the hereafter and are roaming side by side, pain-free and safe from any dangers.*There are numerous one-star GR reviews of this book that excoriate Carr for allowing Masha to be an outdoor cat, and indeed many of her injuries resulted from confrontations with wild predators. Carr had his reasons for giving her that freedom. You may or may not agree with his decision, but if you base your entire review on that one issue, maybe you should just move on to the next book in your TBR list.
