satire | Seattle Book Mama

A cat that is possessed by the devil? You can’t be serious!

Actually, no.

This hilariously satirical take on black cats kept me amused for two days, even when there were other things I ought to be doing. Many thanks to the people at Edelweiss Books, Above the Treeline, and Cornerstone Digital for the ARC. I can’t remember how long it’s been since something I read made me laugh this hard.

The humor here is pretty dark at times; think of Monty Python, the Onion, and Dave Chapelle. (Well okay…maybe not like Dave Chapelle, because no one else can be.) Things get strange once Roger arrives and starts to tell his story, and then…well, they get stranger.

For one thing, there is the great Cat Master, who explains:

“It’s a different world nowadays, Beelzebub. It’s not as respectful as it used to be. People on mobile phones; people cycling on the pavement; people cycling across pedestrian crossings even when the lights are against them.”

But without the context, the quote doesn’t do the story justice. The best Halloween present you can get yourself—or even think of it as a mental health boost, if you like; studies these days show that those of us who laugh live longer—is this ridiculous book.

You may never look at a black cat in quite the same way again.

Liberty Keillor is best known for his radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, on NPR. I have read many reviewers (not from the mainstream media, but amateurs like me, who review on amazon and goodreads) who insist that Keillor is only funny when he delivers the lines himself, and that once you put his work in print, the humor is lost.

Nonsense!

I like reading Keillor’s novels, though the collections of quirky philosophy and bits of his radio work set in print are worth a gander as well. This one is set in the home town he has made known to many of us. (If you haven’t read or heard anything by Keillor, you may still enjoy it, but I recommend reading his classic material first. Lake Wobegon Days is a nice launch-point). In some places it is dry and droll; at other times, I found myself doubled over and gasping for breath. And to be frank, I am not that easily amused.

In fact, I laughed out loud on the first page. People often say, and tritely so, “I couldn’t put it down”, and what they mean sometimes is that they read it often until it was done, and they really enjoyed it. But I genuinely never put this book down unless it was strictly necessary. It was an awesome weekend. I was recovering from surgery and had to be sedentary, and this cheered me up considerably. It is not poignant in the way the L.W.D. is; this is just plain FUNNY. It hit my funny bone from a sort of blind spot and then kept rolling.

Life is serious business, and most of us just don’t laugh often enough. Studies show that laughter actually helps us live longer. But if you get this book and laugh your way to a massive MI, and the last thing you remember is something this hilarious, I still say it’s the best way to go out.

Get the book right away; the Fourth is just around the corner!