I first discovered the book The Cujo Cat Chronicles because I follow an incredibly well-written blog of the same name, whose narrator (Cujo), superbly communicates the thoughts of a cat by using language that honors the superior intelligence that cats possess. The blog as well as the book are written by the obviously brainy Douglas Dunn, with assistance from his (no slouch in the cerebral department) cat, Cujo.
The Cujo Cat Chronicles are musings of a tyrannical housecat named Cujo. Cujo lives up to his name which means "killer cat or dog", something that is "often cute, but will turn around and kill you". Cujo also means "your God, your Owner, someone you will bow down to."
Cujo refers to his family as well as his fans as "minions" a word that is aptly used because minions aren't just servants, they can also be:
"a slavish follower or one that is generally regarded as important or a "favored" person" (what caught my attention was a word located below the definition of "minion" and that word is "dogsbody", which is defined as: "somebody given menial jobs: a worker who does boring tasks that others do not want to do.".
Cujo often mentions in this book that if you expect certain behavior from him then "get a dog."
Cujo's "Minions" are:
Doug- "a creature of the hairless 2 legged variety." His activities consist of feeding Cujo, buying him fuzzy toys that seem to amuse him more than they amuse Cujo, and "cleaning the royal litter".
Kathy- Doug's mate. She also feeds Cujo and tells Doug to "clean the royal litter."
Ivan the Tolerable- a fellow feline and Cujo's acting "aide de camp". "He is very large, easily mislead and quite dim." He is also Cujo's "lead enforcer."
Tiger Lily- a female gray tabby. "She's an accomplished whiner" Cujo chooses to keep her around because she makes "cool sounds when he smacks her."
What about Cujo? By his own admission he is "without humility." He is sarcastic, sadistic, sardonic and as it says on the back cover of this intelligently written, FUN book "one could almost say that Napoleon had a Cujo Cat Complex." Being a huge fan of Simon Cowell, (coincidentally or not, American Idol is mentioned a few times in the book) I would say that Cujo's personality is reminiscent of his as well.
The Cujo Cat Chronicles "is a journey into the mind of a small cat with a huge ego. He welcomes his readers into his Kingdom and then seeks to subjugate them."
There are few cat blogs and books about cats that have an "edge." The "stars" of the book usually have a soft spot somewhere, not Cujo. Everything annoys him, his enjoyment comes from the less than intelligent antics of others, his observations are spot on and are conveyed by using humor that isn't sophomoric.
I greatly enjoyed this book but there was one thing that I found to be lacking. Dunn did such a brilliant job of verbally painting the personalities of all three of his cats, (Cujo, Ivan and Tiger Lily), that I would have enjoyed seeing some photos of theirs interspersed throughout the book.
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| Doug Dunn and "Cujo" |
Looking at the photo of Dunn and Cujo on the back cover, I think they bear a striking resemblance to each other. I think that Doug Dunn who appears as mild mannered as a temperate summer day, must have many of Cujo's personality traits, which whether or not they will admit it, seems to be the case with the majority of pet lovers whose animals "speak" for them. Dunn's blog and his book are the perfect vehicles for him to "release his inner Cujo."
If we dare to admit it, there probably is a little
A LOT of Cujo in ALL of us, there certainly is in me, which makes this book (as well as the blog) the perfect guilty pleasure, a place where you can embrace your "Evil Twin"
and laugh yourself silly while doing so!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Doug Dunn was born and raised in Central Texas. He now lives in Oak Harbor, Washington with his "lovely bride" and he has enough animals to provide the cast of a Disney movie. Doug hopes that this book is the first of many books to come. (I hope so too!)
Follow Cujo's blog here
I received no compensation for this review. I received a complimentary copy of Doug's book to read/review.
