Audiobook7 hours
Another Insane Devotion: On the Love of Cats and Persons
Written by Peter Trachtenberg
Narrated by Joe Geoffrey
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
()
About this audiobook
From “a genuine American Dostoevsky” (The Washington Post): a dazzling, funny, bittersweet exploration of the mysteries of relationship, both human and animal.
When his favorite cat Biscuit goes missing, Peter Trachtenberg sets out to find her. The journey takes him 700 miles and many years into his past-- into the history of his relationships with cats and the history of his relationship with his wife F., who may herself be on the verge of disappearing. What ensues is a work that recalls travel narratives from The Incredible Journey to W. G. Sebald's The Rings of Saturn. Trachtenberg ponders the mysteries of feline intelligence (why do cats score worse on some tests than pigeons?), the origins of their domestication, their terrible treatment during the Middle Ages. He also looks at the riddle of why any of us loves whom we love and all the unforeseen places to which that devotion leads us.
When his favorite cat Biscuit goes missing, Peter Trachtenberg sets out to find her. The journey takes him 700 miles and many years into his past-- into the history of his relationships with cats and the history of his relationship with his wife F., who may herself be on the verge of disappearing. What ensues is a work that recalls travel narratives from The Incredible Journey to W. G. Sebald's The Rings of Saturn. Trachtenberg ponders the mysteries of feline intelligence (why do cats score worse on some tests than pigeons?), the origins of their domestication, their terrible treatment during the Middle Ages. He also looks at the riddle of why any of us loves whom we love and all the unforeseen places to which that devotion leads us.
Related to Another Insane Devotion
Related audiobooks
Seven Cats and the Art of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Cat Abroad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What's a Dog For?: The Surprising History, Science, Philosophy, and Politics of Man's Best Friend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Starter Dog: My Path to Joy, Belonging and Loving This World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's Just a Dog Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Is a Dog?: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enslaved by Ducks: How One Man Went from Head of the Household to Bottom of the Pecking Order Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Patients Like Treats: Tales from a House-Call Veterinarian Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Kit Kat and Lucy: The Country Cats Who Changed a City Girl's World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rescuing Penny Jane: One Shelter Volunteer, Countless Dogs, and the Quest to Find Them All Homes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dog Who Couldn't Stop Loving: How Dogs Have Captured Our Hearts for Thousands of Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little America: Incredible True Stories of Immigrants in America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wolf in the Parlor: The Eternal Connection Between Humans and Dogs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dog's Best Friend: The Story of an Unbreakable Bond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NPR Driveway Moments Cat Tales: Radio Stories That Won't Let You Go Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Where Dogs Go To LIVE!: Inspiring Stories of Hospice Dogs Living in the Moment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dogs of Avalon: The Race to Save Animals in Peril Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sophie: The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Second-Chance Cats: True Stories of the Cats We Rescue and the Cats Who Rescue Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rescue Road: One Man, Thirty Thousand Dogs and a Million Miles on the Last Hope Highway Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Diary of a Barking Mad Dog Owner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5ComPETability: Solving Behavior Problems in Your Multi-Cat Household Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5What It's Like to Be a Dog: And Other Adventures in Animal Neuroscience Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Language of Cats: How to Understand Your Cat for a Better, Happier Relationship Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Personal Memoirs For You
Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman in Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Night: New translation by Marion Wiesel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Many Lives of Mama Love (Oprah's Book Club): A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5While Time Remains: A North Korean Girl's Search for Freedom in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Me: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: My Year of Psychedelics: Lessons on Better Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Girls Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Counting the Cost Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Stay Married Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Stolen Life: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: Built for This: The Quiet Strength of Powerlifting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5See You on the Way Down: Catch You on the Way Back Up! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing into the Wound: Understanding trauma, truth, and language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Making It So: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pageboy: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Mormon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wishful Drinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Another Insane Devotion
Rating: 3.0769230923076925 out of 5 stars
3/5
13 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Peter Trachtenberg is a very good writer. In his ANOTHER INSANE DEVOTION, every paragraph is beautiful. But it meanders.Trachtenberg writes in first person about, mostly, his cat Biscuit and his wife, F. He and F. have had and have more than one cat, and Trachtenberg TELLS us about more than one. And he tells us about more than cats.Here’s the structure of this book as I see it: Biscuit is missing. Trachtenberg is out of state and has left his cats in the care of an irresponsible pet sitter. In between paragraphs about this dilemma, Trachtenberg inserts paragraphs about his wife, his other cats, and, also, many other reminisces, reflections, and ruminations. It was too much for me. But I finished ANOTHER INSANE DEVOTION to learn the fate of Biscuit.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not just about cats but they are central to the narrative and that's what I found most interesting in this engaging memoir. Devotees of feline companionship should much to enjoy here.