105 Ways to Give a Book

Yum, Farm-Fresh Cats

When Fuse#8 reviewed the book What Happens on Wednesdays, she noted that she couldn’t think of that title without mentally adding “stays on Wednesdays.” Oh, I so agree (even if I can’t seem to find the review itself).

It was also Fuse#8 who noted that the title Monkey Town put the song “Funky Town” in her head.

I’m just saying here that authors need to think about what else the title brings to mind.

Farm-Fresh CatsWhen I saw the book Farm-Fresh Cats, my instant reaction was, “They’re eating the cats!!!??? Gross!!!” I couldn’t help it. Putting farm-fresh with anything seems like it implies... well, tasty. Odd title choice and then a pretty odd book.

A farmer and his wife live harmony with all the animals. Then something strange happens, and where the farmer was growing cabbages, green cats start to grow. When they start mewing, the farmer and his wife pick them. But then they don’t know what to do with them, so the cats just hang around the farm and the house. The book tells us that the cats are no trouble, but every time they shed some fur, a new cat forms. That sounds like trouble to me. Or, as my husband said, like the plot of Gremlins.

The farmer and his wife get the idea to sell the green cats at their roadside stand instead of vegetables — another thing that kind of reinforces the ick factor, especially as they are sold by the pound. City folk buy them, since they are no more trouble than house plants — though again, it sounds like they are trouble to me. They get rid of the cats this way, but who knows what will happen with all those cats shedding all over the city?

The book seemed to appeal to some reader reviewers on Amazon, but personally, I need to keep love for cats and love for cabbage in completely separate categories. Though the whole thing does remind me of my favorite brother-in-law quote. When I told him about going to a local cat show, he thought it would be very funny to ask the owners about their cats and, after listening politely, to lean in and ask, “But how do they taste?”

Perhaps farm-fresh.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay: bizarre. Truly, truly weirdly bizarre. And again, I think this is a job for Alkelda, and the children's books that never were...

Anonymous said...

At first I thought you were making this up, but I see it's a real book. Of course, I put it on hold. Must see for myself and all that.

Anonymous said...

I agree. Sounds like you're supposed to eat the cats. Eww. But I can't wait to see what Alkelda does with it . . .

Saints and Spinners said...

Tadmack and Kelly: I'll see what I can do. I'm still chuckling over MotherReader's brother's idea for the cat show.

Saints and Spinners said...

Update: I'll have a post on Farm Fresh Cats this Friday.

Lindsey said...

Uh oh, did Fuse really say that about Monkey Town/Funkytown? The reason I'm asking is that I put that in my book review to quote my co-worker. Fuse, if you did say that, please know I wasn't trying to copy with no credit.

Anonymous said...

Okay, I got this and read it and it is quite as weird as you made it sound. It also made me think that maybe the Cabbage Patch people might have cause to sue....