BOOKS: Purring In The Light: Near-death Experiences of Cats

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1995:

Purring In The Light: Near-death Experiences of Cats
by Stephanie Samek, illustrated by Larry Ross
Plume Books (375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014), 1995.
128 pages, paperback, $7.95.

I made room for this gem by
sweeping a number of quasi-religious New
Age best sellers, classics, and so forth off
my shelves, because I think I have found a
system here that could comfort and sustain
me along with my innocent and surely mystical
cat. The view of transition and realms-tocome
contained in the chapter called
Burmese Book of the Dead, together with the
Credo For Cats, sounds quite appealing.

Of course Samek intends a lovely
spoof of things human readers will recognize,
deftly done, with hilarious punning. I’d like
to quote the whole thing here and now. It is
that charming. Samek barely tapped her talent
when she did ad campaigns for Whiskas
and Sheba cat foods. Larry Ross, her illustrator,
is in company worthy of his fame.
We hear about such enticing cats as
Madame Blavatsky, who is returned to her
body; Cat Cupids explain karma. Catskrit
proverbs enlighten us. A Japanese Bobtail
Proverb is quoted: “You never have to mew
sayonara.”
Skipping around among chapter
titles, how about Rendezvous with a Cat
Goddess, or Astral Fun and Games, or N o
Purring in Purrgatory, or Transfurmations?
All these are there and much, much more.
Remember, these are near-death experiences,
and after the Nine Lives Review, cats
return to lead improved lives. Thanks to
Samek, we now have info straight from the
cats.
––Phyllis Clifton