58.
Author: Terry Pratchett
Title: The Unadulterated Cat
Publication: Hardback
Pages: 156 pages
Genre: Humor
Acquisition: Beach read #3
Date Completed: July 19, 2010
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Somewhere in the limitless possibilities of reality and consciousness there is a young man named Schrodinger in a box with a vial of radioactive material and a device which may - or may not - break the vial and immediately end the consciousness of the young man. He is both alive and dead, and is doubtless bleeding from the back of his heels, because somewhere in his future he had (purposeful shift in tense) proposed a thought experiment that begins with the extremely hazardous suggestion that an individual place a cat in a box.

And cats hold grudges, even if you haven't angered them yet.

In The Unadulterated Cat, Pratchett endeavors to define a Real cat (as opposed to those fluffy, squished-faced monstrosities that can apparently eat their food out of crystal dishes without tipping them over). Punctuated with telling cartoons by Gray Jolliffe, Pratchett provides a 150+ page description of those horrible beasts, and even provides some analysis as to why we (cats and their roommates) tolerate each other. I have long been under the impression that my own cats are just horribly uncatlike beasts, especially when forced to consider such adorable and friendly examples in literature and the Facebook photo albums of (childless) friends, but Pratchett has shown me otherwise. My cats are undeniably Real cats.

While I certainly enjoy Pratchett's writing style, I believe my partner enjoyed The Unadulterated Cat far more than I. But that's really to be expected, because my partner is the true cat lover in our household. After reading what my Real cats are truly capable of I think I'll stay loyal to my ridiculous cat-sized dog.