The Old Man and the Cat: A Love Story
Nils Uddenberg
2015, 164 pages
Nonfiction
Nils Uddenberg, a retired psychology professor, is in his early 70s when a cat begins to sleep in his garden shed. This little book is the story of how Uddenberg and his wife “have ‘come down with cat.’ ” He didn’t want a pet but, Uddenberg notes, “With her determined approaches the cat had shown a measure of faith in us, which I found it difficult to be unmoved by.” They name her Kitty.
Sprinkled with natural history, psychology, literary cat references, tidbits about Sweden and Uddenberg’s interests (including travel to Africa and classical music), and illustrated with whimsical drawings by Ana Gustavsson, The Old Man and the Cat is lovely. Like life with a cat, it’s warm, pleasant, entertaining, and edifying. Uddenberg’s clear admiration for the little creature is endearing, as is his honesty about his reluctance to have a cat, the disruptions to his routine and his need to adapt. For example, he admits to finding her hunting disruptive and even a little repugnant, but he understands it’s in Kitty’s nature; he and his wife stop filling birdfeeders so that Kitty will hunt mice rather than songbirds.
Uddenberg is a keen observer of animal and human nature and he writes eloquently about what Kitty means to him. “Kitty has become a part of our lives, and vice versa. Not because we understand one another, but because we quite enjoy our time together. . . . For me, it has become a philosophical challenge to try to understand at least a little about her world.” Readers are the fortunate recipients of this challenge.
Deb Baker
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