READ IT AND BELIEVE! (The Silent Miaow - Paul Gallico)

Member Name: indigojade

Product:	The Silent Miaow - Paul Gallico
Date:	08/03/01 (158 review reads)
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Paul Gallico a talented and gifted story teller, born in New York in 1898 began a career in journalism, expanding into books, short stories and screenplays. His most famous story, The Snow Goose has become a literary classic, indeed I can remember reading this at school and being entranced. Gallico was also a huge cat lover and his books Jennie and Thomasina are fabulously insightful when it comes to the workings of the feline psyche. The Silent Miaow was first published in 1964 and has been a success since, no self respecting cat lover should be without it!

The Silent Miaow, is quite possibly one of the earliest books I can remember reading myself, apart from the John and Jane series of course! I appreciate now I had not a clue of what the book was telling me, until I re read it later in my teenage years.

Having owned cats for as long as I can remember I can see how on target everything in this book is. The title states it is ‘A manual for kittens, strays and homeless cats’ this should be extended, in my opinion anyway, to include every cat.

To say it was ‘written’ by Gallico is perhaps a mis term, it is ‘translated’ by him.

The story as told by Gallico about how he came by the manuscript is bizarre to say the least. A publisher found this ‘manuscript’ on his door step, on looking at it more closely thought it was encoded in some way, he handed it to Gallico as he knew he was intrigued by codes and the like and had some experience during the war.

After some work he discovered that the manuscript was typed by not human fingers, but by feline paws!! The apparent code was where the animal had mis hit the keys, hmmmmm a familiar problem!! Thus was born this extraordinary ‘bible for cats’.

The book includes chapters on the initial taking over a house hold, how a dirty bedraggled animal worms it way into the hearts and lives of two non cat lovers, and mana
ges to stay there. Advice on property rights, letting the humans know exactly what is theirs and what is yours. It also describes with frightening accuracy their language, right down to the ‘silent Miaow’.

Any cat owner will know what I mean when I say the silent miaow, it is the most pitiful and powerful sight, that simple look up at you with mouth opened as if they are going to give full voice......and ........nothing, if you are close enough you may just hear a slight expulsion of air, but nothing else at all. I know when any of my three do this it is so pleading and beseeching that I usually give in! Weak willed of me yes, god help me if James ever learns to do this!!

This really is the most intriguing and quite honestly accurately frightening book about cats and their behaviour, it is almost possible that it did come from its dubious origins!! The Silent Miaow comes with the most gorgeously photographed cats and kittens, anyone who doesn’t own a cat, on reading this will want one!!!

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