The Old Man and the Cat
This is a story of how Nils Uddenberg grew heavy with cat even though he had never wanted a pet of any kind. One winter morning there was a cat – as he would later find, a homeless one – sitting outside his bedroom window, looking at him with big yellow eyes. Slowly but surely it worked itself into his life.
With much humor and self-awareness, Nils Uddenberg describes how his existence changes after the cat moves into his house in Lund. The feelings she stirs up are a surprise to him. He falls in love with this speckled grey-brown little lady, who soon also sleeps in his bed at night.
With his background as a psychiatrist, Nils Uddenberg cannot stop himself going deeper into Kitty’s spiritual life. Does she have a sense of humour? Is it feasible to attach human feelings to her? And the trickiest question of all: “Is our little cat actually interested in our attachment to her, which we spend so much time building up?
Reviews
“An absolutely adorable book which went straight to my heart. Should find a significant readership! Written with much humour. Nils Uddenberg can’t quite control his drive to go deeper into the cat’s psyche. The book is further improved by very, very lovely illustrations by Ane Gustavsson. An irresistible book about falling in love in one’s elder days.”
SVT Gokväll
“This little book is as adorable as a six-week old kitten. Thanks to the subject, the creator and the artist Ane Gustavsson, whose monochrome water-colours are not mere illustrations but works of art in their own right ... Uddenberg’s description of the process of familiarization between the two of them is irresistible. It is in fact a sort of love story with much the same aspects as human love: Who is this? Am I liked by this person? What is he thinking now? What does this behaviour mean? And then the literary, philosophical, ethological and scientific musings ... all rendered with a very light hand, humour and imagination …”
Expressen
“A captivating book ... We follow Uddenberg’s humorous and philosophical thoughts on the inner life of a cat, as seen in his beloved Kitty. The style of the writing has apleasant simplicity, with gripping short anecdotes ... Uddenberg psychologises in a warm, self-aware vein on the cat’s various personalities and how we anthropomorphize its behavior.”
ÖstgötaCorrespondenten
“Utterly wonderful reading. With snippets of knowledge and education thrown into the bargain. Full of observation. He asks himself: Do I own the cat or does the cat own me?”
Swedish Public Radio P4 Mannheimer & Tengby
Endorsements
“An absolutely adorable book which went straight to my heart. Should find a significant readership! Written with much humour. Nils Uddenberg can’t quite control his drive to go deeper into the cat’s psyche. The book is further improved by very, very lovely illustrations by Ane Gustavsson. An irresistible book about falling in love in one’s elder days.”
Ingalill Mosander, SVT Gokväll
Rights sold
Chinese Rights sold to Shanghai 99.
Danish Rights sold to Lindhardt og Ringhof
Dutch Rights sold to Balans Publishers
French Rights sold to Presses de la Cité
German Rights sold to BTB.
Italian Rights sold to Corbaccio
Japanese Rights sold to X-Knowledge
Korean Rights sold to Samtoh
Norwegian Rights sold to Kagge
Portuguese Rights sold to Bertrand publishing
Turkish Rights sold to Ithaki
US Rights sold to St Martins Press