A Cat Named Darwin
Embracing the Bond Between Man and Pet
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4.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
A scientist contemplates his bond with a sick stray cat in this “gripping and powerful” memoir (The San Diego Union-Tribune).
Bill Jordan’s life changed forever the day a stray cat nesting under his bougainvillea bit him on the hand. Trained in biology, Jordan had no particular love for animals and felt vaguely contemptuous of those who did—until the cat, beckoning with a wink and a yawn, led him on a journey to exotic lands, strange cultures, and fascinating discoveries. As their bond deepened and the cat’s health began to fail, Jordan was forced into a commitment more devoted and sincere than any he had known before.
Puzzling through his own feelings, Jordan came to some remarkable conclusions: that those we love live in the synapses and molecules of memory, and that as long as we exist, they exist as part of our brain. In this recollection of the relationship, he meditates on the nature of humans and animals, and the scientific truths about solitude, communication, and companionship.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cat fanciers will enjoy this memoir by a 45-year-old man who lived alone until his heart was stolen by an orange cat. Jordan, a biologist (Divorce Among the Gulls: An Uncommon Look at Human Nature), was taking out the garbage one night when he discovered that a formerly well-cared-for cat he had thought belonged to a neighbor was, in reality, a stray, who scavenged food from garbage cans and was now gaunt and flea-bitten. His initial resistance was quickly overcome and the tomcat he named Darwin soon became the center of his adoptive owner's life. He describes how Darwin insinuated himself more deeply into his consciousness until Jordan finally allowed Darwin to sleep in his bed ("Thus Darwin and I became man and cat"). When Jordan is on assignment in England without Darwin, a vision of the cat as well as his scientist namesake suddenly appears to relieve his loneliness. Unfortunately, Darwin is diagnosed with the feline leukemia virus (requiring expensive treatments Jordan agrees to so that Darwin would be able to live comfortably for as long as possible), and after a long period of illness, dies. Though Jordan adopted another cat while Darwin was still alive, the author's relationship with that orange cat taught him to love. The author's self-deprecating style is what keeps this account from descending into mawkishness.
