On Cats

A collection of charming and celebrated writings about cats, from Doris Lessing, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Doris Lessing’s love affair with cats began at a young age, when she became intrigued with the semi-feral creatures on the African farm where she grew up. Her fascination remained undiminished by the handsome domesticated creatures who shared her flats and her life in London and grew into real love with El Magnifico, the awkwardly lovable cat who in his later years suffered the great indignity of becoming a three-legged beast.

Consisting of Lessing’s celebrated collection of stories, ‘Particularly Cats and Rufus’, and the poignant though unsentimental memoir, ‘The Old Age of El Magnifico’, this book is a brilliant evocation of the feline world.

Reviews

‘A distillation of everything that makes her work such a joy to read…Lessing's intensely visual imagination and coolly precise style fleshes out this feline life. A work of exquisite tenderness and poignancy, thoroughly devoid of artifice, over-elaboration or mawkish sentimentality…Wonderful.’ Scotsman

‘“Particularly Cats” is not really about cats at all, it’s about real characters.’ Daily Mail

‘An unsentimental and unwhimsical, but not unpartisan, study of cat-and-human relationships. An entertaining read for both cat and Lessing connoisseurs.’ Observer

About the author

Doris Lessing is one of the most important writers of the twentieth century and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature 2007. Her first novel, 'The Grass is Singing', was published in 1950. Among her other celebrated novels are 'The Golden Notebook', 'The Fifth Child' and 'Memoirs of a Survivor'. She has also published two volumes of her autobiography, 'Under my Skin' and 'Walking in the Shade'. Doris Lessing died on 17 November 2013 at the age of 94.