National Network for Equitable Library Service

This is the Cat is a deeply darkly humorous tale as shared by one Bridie Savage. Bridie is struggling to recover from a toothache of the heart "...always a Bridie, never a Bride..." when she loses her job. At a time when many of her friends are thinking about retiring Bridie finds herself trying to convince Walmart that they need a Playwright-in-Residence. Then her beloved Uncle Beeswax passes away and instead of finding money in the walls of his old homestead she finds she's carted away a pack of ghosts, both figurative and literal. One of her cats needs expensive allergy shots from the vet "...the cat creeps in on little fog feet the little frigger, cats are the original false advertising..." and the normally docile neighborhood is suddenly very popular with the local hookers. A series of mysterious and disruptive e-mails begin to turn up and Bridie begins to wonder about her state of mind. This intricate story weaves by turns comedic, heart-warming and sometimes heart-breaking voices, telling the intriguing saga of one life gone askew and asks if being askew isn't perhaps all right in the end. It examines the foibles and failures of memory and memories, throws comedic caution to the winds and makes the case that playing on-line Scrabble every morning helps to save the world.With "This is the Cat" Berni Stapleton embraces an intimate, humorous and provocative style evocative of the work that won her accolades for "They Let Down Baskets." Creative Book Publishing released this award-winning book in 1998. It combined the photographs of Jamie Lewis, a CD of a radio documentary from Chris Brookes, and the revealing journals of Berni. This intricate story weaves by turns comedic, heart-warming and sometimes heart-breaking voices, telling the intriguing saga of one life gone askew and asks if being askew isn't perhaps all right in the end.