Book:Catsong by T.J. Banks

"Serenade:A musical performance given to honor or express love for someone,  often by one person."

When I finished reading Catsong, by T.J. Banks, and  was pondering what would be the best word to sum up the spirit in this touching book, the word serenade kept appearing in my mind.

In it's traditional sense, the word "serenade" is typically defined as,   "a musical greeting performed for a lover, friend, person of rank or other person to be honored. The classic serenade usage would be from a lover to his lady love through a window."

While a serenade is normally directed towards a female from a male, in my opinion, it also is an appropriate word to describe what author Banks has created in Catsong.

To me, Catsong is not only a compilation of Bank's best cat stories, it is much more than that. It is a songbook  of SERENADES. It, is a collection of essays that are in reality, SONGS. My reference to "songs" for the purpose of this review,  would be words that honor by using the most beautiful of lyrics. The words written in Catsong are vehicles that convey love, a love of the purest and most genuine kind. The "serenades" in Catsong are essays dedicated to the many cats who have graced T.J. Bank's life.

From Catsong: For all the cats who have graced our lives-the strays and the purebreds, the soul-cats and the heart-cats, the generals and the goofballs. You all gave us so much.

  Songs that convey love evoke the strongest of emotions. While often these memories are beautiful, inspiring and happy, they also can be full of grief  that often seems unbearable. Catsong is a beautifully woven compilation of these emotions.

Many who will, or have read Catsong, have had numerous cats touch their lives.  Sadly, I have only had three, (an abandoned newborn calico kitten that was in my life for merely a month when I was fifteen, my Angel Bobo, and my Cody). Whether or not one has had one cat, three, or dozens, the intense love and raw emotion that was so beautifully conveyed in Catsong, will be recognizable and felt by all.

 Catsong  was the winner of the 20007 Merial Human-Animal Bond Award

ISBN:978-1-63263-540-2
Published by BookLocker.com, Inc., Bradenton, Florida

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:T.J. Banks is the author of Sketch People:Stories Along the Way, A Time for Shadows,  Derv & Co.: A Life Among Felines, Souleiado and  Houdini a novel which the late writer and activist Cleveland Amory enthusiastically branded "a winner" and which I had the pleasure of reviewing.  A Contributing Editor to laJoie, she has received writing awards from the Cat Writers' Association (CWA), ByLine, and The Writing Self. 

I was not compensated for this review. I was sent a copy of  Catsong in exchange for my honest review. It is my pleasure to share a book as marvelous as this one with my readers.