Hemingway's Cats: An Illustrated Biography Hardcover – March 2, 2006

I'm an admitted Hemingway fan so I read most of the books published about him, good, bad or average. This one was a delight. I loved it. Since I'm also an animal lover, this book was a welcome addition. It exceeded my expectations by giving context about what works Hem was working on, who he was married to at the time, and a true flavor of his wonderful animal friends and what they meant to him. It also well demonstrated Hem's gentle, sensitive side as these cats and dogs were not just inhabitants of his life but real family members. I enjoyed the book and the photos immensely. Thank you for writing it.

I never had an interest in books about or what Hemingway wrote until I visited his home in Key West Florida. Love that he loved animals so much. I am a dog and cat person so it made him more interesting to read about him.

Hemingway's Cats is a well written, well documented biography of Hemingway built around his relationship with his pets,owls,dogs, and mostly cats.I have read other biographies of Hemingway, but this one published in 2006, has new information and details I hadn't read before.Including details of his relationships with his wives and lovers in a non-judgemental but informative style.Also, it reveals many truths about the Hemingway legend, such as the six toed cats that live on Key West today, are not decendents of former Hemingway pets. All in all, a good intertaining read.I'd say it is a must for any true Hemingway fan.

Excellent book! Very informative about Ernest Hemingway's unusual life. It gave insight into his personality, which seemed tough and harsh, but really had a very warm and loving side. Beautiful pictures and stories about his pets. I enjoy it thoroughly! Very reasonably priced at Amazon.com, and delivered quickly.

I am rather biased, since this book was written by my second cousin. It is beautifully sculpted into a picture of Hemingway Ihave never before seen.

If you like Ernest Hemingway and cats, then you should find this book entertaining and informative. Part coffee table book and part biography, HEMINGWAY'S CATS appears to be an exhaustive attempt by Carlene Fredericka Brennen to find everything ever written about one of America's greatest modern writer's love of cats. She quotes extensively from Hemingway's letters, his novel ISLANDS IN THE STREAM and many of the endless biographies including A. E. Hotchner's PAPA HEMINGWAY and Carlos Baker's ERNEST HEMINGWAY: A LIFE STORY. (Surely no American writer has been the subject of more books than Mr. Hemingway with two more just published in the past year I believe.) Along with the cats, Hemingway's four wives get included of course. It would be fair to say that he often fared better in his love for animals than in his relationships with his wives. He was prone, for instance, often to be much in love with two woman at the same time, one he was married to an another usually younger one. Although I have read all of Hemingway's major fiction, I've never read a biography of him previously so this book was certainly informative. I suspect, however, that much of what Ms. Brennen covers is old territory to many readers.But to the cats. Apparently Mr. Hemingway never met a cat he didn't love-- at one time having as many as 56 of them-- and went to great lengths to provide and care for them, even building a room for them in one of his houses as he said in a letter to Mary, his fourth wife: "Will make a big scratching pole covered with carpet for them to use their claws on and have catnip bin and ping-pong balls for kittneys to play with." Cats filled a void in Hemingway's life, bringing him comfort from loneliness when he was separated from his family for whatever reason. Although Ms. Brennen writes of over thirty cats by name, A Cuban black-and-white short haired cat named Boise was Hemingway's heart. Boise slept with him practically every night, kept him company while he wrote, ate with him and took walks with him. This cat died at the age of 14 from a heart attack. Hemingway believed that he would see him in heaven. Of the nine dogs named, Black Dog, an Alaskan Springer spaniel was the writer's favorite. Hemingway was horrified when Batista's soldiers clubbed him to death and looked forward to seeing him in heaven too.A previously unpublished Hemingway letter that just came to light and was written about in the "New York Times" in March, 2012 illustrates again his love for cats. He was in the process of having to shoot a cat named Willie (that Ms. Brennen lists as a gray-and-black striped cat) who had been hit by a car and had both legs broken. In the letter Hemingway wrote: "Certainly miss you. Miss Uncle Willie. Have had to shoot people but never anyone I knew and loved for eleven years. Nor anyone that purred with two broken legs." Then a Cadillac load of tourists encountered him. He writes further: "I still had the rifle and I explained to them they had come at a bad time and to please understand and go away. But the rich Cadillac psycho said, 'We have come at a most interesting time. Just in time to see the great Hemingway cry because he has to kill a cat.' I humiliated him as he should be humiliated. Omit details."The book is illustrated with literally dozens of photographs of Hemingway with his human family and cat family. My only complaint, a minor one, is that at times Ms. Brennen is repetitious. For example, I read several times the famous quotes by Hemingway that one cat leads to another and that cats are love sponges.

This was a great book and even though I have heard of Ernst Hemingway I had never read any of his writings! This portrayed a man who loved cats so much and they were such an integral part of his life! Great read for animal lovers!

Yet another famous person that was a cat lover that I didn't know about. The story was amazing and I loved the pictures as well.

This book gives some very interesting insight into the home life of Hemingway,his marriages and his love for felines but it also gives you a glimpse into his unsettled life style and his travels throughout the USA and Cuba.If you visit the Hemingway home in Key West you will gather a sense of what it was like to live in his creative environment.

Wer sich für Hemingway interessiert, und wer auch vielleicht schon auf Key West das Hemingway-Haus mit seinen Katzen besucht hat, wird an diesem Buch seine Freude haben. Das Buch erzählt das Leben Hemingways und enthält viele private schwarz-weiß Fotos, darunter auch von seinen sechszehigen Katzen. Ich finde, dieses Buch ist ein ausgefallenes Geschenk für jeden, der etwas mehr über den privaten Hemingway erfahren möchte, ohne sich durch eine nüchterne Biographie zu arbeiten.