Cats Have No Myths

Wherein Corduroy & Velvet Have a Secret Pow-Wow

CORDUROY: Quick Question. Why do the humans sit in front of the flatscreen with all the bright flashing pictures?

VELVET: Not a clue.

CORDUROY: Like every Saturday night. They sit on our couches—our couches!—and watch other humans dressed up and pretending to be other humans.

VELVET: I know. It’s sick.

CORDUROY: If they want to look at other humans, why don’t they sit there and look at each other? Why the bright flashing pictures?

VELVET: Maybe I could get it if it makes them happy. But sometimes the pictures make them cry.

CORDUORY: I know, right? Hey, maybe it’s like the mirrors in the bathrooms. They have to keep checking because they forget who they are.

VELVET: But the bright flashing pictures are pictures of other humans pretending to be other humans.

CORDUROY: I don’t get it….But here’s the really weird thing. One night they were watching the bright flashing pictures, and the humans in them were dressed up as—

VELVET: What?

CORDUROY: Cats!

VELVET: Stop it! You’re freaking me out!

“Cats have no myths.”

—Walker Percy, Lost in the Cosmos

IN THE NEWS:

• There have been a lot of new subscribers to The Comic Muse since the turn of the New Year. Welcome to one and all!

• You might enjoy my discussion with Tod Worner on the latest Evangelization & Culture Podcast from Word on Fire.

• My novel, The Good Death of Kate Montclair, was recently selected by the staff of Catholic Culture as one of their best reads of 2023.

• And here are the latest 5-Star Amazon Reviews of The Good Death of Kate Montclair:

“I wasn't sure what to expect from the title but WOW this book blew me away. I couldn't put it down! Not only is the story riveting and masterfully revealed in tantalizing fragments, but the writing is absolutely beautiful and poetic. I usually do not want to re-read a book as soon as I finish it, but I feel like I could get even more out of it from a second read! The novel is a beautiful witness to the value of suffering and the meaning of life in a way that SHOWS versus tells.”

—Basia

“The phrase ‘a twitch upon the thread’, written so famously in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited comes to mind when I think of Kate Montclair’s tragic but blessed and beautiful life. The flashbacks throughout the novel interspersed with symbolisms of great faith and the echoing of “the world offers you comfort, but you were made for greatness”, reflects through the narration. Dr. Daniel McInerny has crafted a brilliant yet modern day story of redemption that will leave you thinking for days. This was one of my favourite novels!”

—Levi

Pick up your copy of The Good Death of Kate Montclair today! Along with the prequel short story, “Pursuit Among the Ruins.”

Photograph of Corduroy & Velvet courtesy of Lucy McInerny.