Misty the Cat is Back for More and Gore (Vidal)

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This photo by my human Dave is misleading because the novel on my cat tree is NOT sleep-inducing.

It’s been nearly two months since I, Misty the Cat, guest-wrote a “Dave Astor On Literature” post, so the Time has come. Or was it Newsweek that arrived?

Speaking of legacy media, Cat Fancy magazine ended in 2015 — the same year of my feline birth. That’s almost as coincidental as Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes both dying in April 1616. Cervantes of course wrote Don Quixote, the saga of a kitty-knight-errant who swats at windmills; and Shakespeare penned Much Ado About Nothing, about the overreaction to me swatting Dave off his chair so I could gain access to his computer.

Anyway, why is this blog called “Dave Astor on Literature”? Does my male human sit atop novels rather than read them? “Misty the Cat on Ten Folded Blankets” is more like it. But I prefer 15 folded blankets for maximum sleeping comfort.

When not napping, the novel I read most recently was Gore Vidal’s The Smithsonian Institution — set in 1939 as World War 2 neared, but with much mind-bending manipulation of time. Quite satirical and historical and philosophical and fantastical. Heck, in the 1998-published book, dead U.S. presidents and other museum exhibits even come to life! Which is more than I can say about my little stuffed mousies that don’t move unless I swat them.

Don’t assume that I successfully swat everything. I once tried to knock War and Peace off the dining-room table, but couldn’t move it. Dave needs to buy one of Tolstoy’s novellas.

I particularly enjoy novellas that contain only one word. The plot and character development are a bit lacking, but I finish them quickly enough to get on with the important things in life — such as swatting the “e” off Dave’s computer keyboard. Which lxads to sxntxnces likx the onx I just typxd.

In more positive news (besides me putting back the “e” key), the most recent Liane Moriarty novel came out last month and I can’t wait to read it. It’s called Here One Moment, and it joins a long line of excellent Moriarty books that also include — among others — Apples Never Fall (unless I swat them from the tree). And it’s worth mentioning that the kitty editions of Moriarty’s Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers are titled Big Litter Lies and Nine Purrfect Strangers.

Then, on October 22, comes the latest Jack Reacher thriller by Lee Child and Andrew Child. That one’s called In Too Deep, which reminds me of when I briefly stepped in a 1/16th-of-an-inch puddle during one of my outdoor leashed walks. The post-traumatic stress disorder lasted for 61 hours. Tee-hee — the name of my favorite Reacher novel.

Reacher is 6’5″ and 250 pounds, which is also my size after I gobble several cat treats.

The Reacher books are escapist, mass-market fiction — albeit as well-crafted as my high-quality cat tree pictured in the photo atop this post. True literature is by an author such as George Eliot, who, like George Sand, was a woman. Female novelists, especially long-ago ones, would sometimes use male pen names to have a better chance in the publishing realm of a patriarchal world. Eliot’s real name? Mary Ann Evans. Sand’s real name? The tongue-twisting Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil. George Washington’s real name? Geddy Lee. Sorry — had to get a reference in this post to the band Rush, even though Geddy sang “Vital Signs” rather than “Vidal Signs.” Still, I think Gore Vidal signed some copies of The Smithsonian Institution.

Dave will guest-write replies to comments to allow me, Misty the Cat, the time to swat unwanted marketing pitches from the WordPress spam folder into the WordPress trash folder.

My comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Misty says Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )

This 90-second promo video for my book features a talking cat: 🙂

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — also written by Misty the Cat, but completely different — is here.

95 thoughts on “Misty the Cat is Back for More and Gore (Vidal)”

  2. Misty writes the most entertaining posts, Dave. You are really lucky he helps you out from time to time. I do not generally read entertainment for the masses, but my mother and aunt do so I always give them these recommendations. I have just started reading Flatland which requires great concentration.

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  5. Misty,

    How cool that you are swatting.

    Maybe you can join a SWAT Team?

    I mean swat backwards is “taws”, which rhymes with “paws”!

    Tell Dave to give pause to that!

    Now, I do remember reading something by Gore Vidal, but the title and what it was about have slipped off the table, and as much as I claw my mind… nope no memory.

    Rush… yeah! They had a lot of cat songs. If I’m not mistaken ( which I very well could be) “Closer to the Heart” was about his cat.

    The song – “The Best I Can” could be a type-O. “The Best I Cat”?

    I searched to see if Geddy has any cats. OMG… it’s wild how many people have named their cat Geddy Lee.

    Finally, found this on YouTube: https://graffitiluxandmurals.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/fvp3a8g-2.jpg

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  9. Vidal wasn’t a cat, although he claims to have colloborated with one (jokingly I would say but who knows).

    In Vidal’s memoir, according to the New Criterion: “What Gore Remembers” Palimpsest is, apparently, a collaboration. A picture at the beginning shows Vidal with a white cat crouching on his shoulder. The caption reads, “The memoirist in 1992. I am about to start writing this book in Ravello, aided by the white cat.” And indeed, reversing the formula, he got the cat’s tongue.”

    Vidal was more catty than cat I’d venture to say. I liked to watch his debate with William Buckley, Jr., who I firmly believed had a pencil fetish.

    Re escapist mass market fiction, the actor Alan Ritchson, who plays Jack Reacher, is soon to star in a movie adaptation of Nicholas Spark’s new novel, Counting Miracles (as noted by Ritchson’s company Allycat Entertainment).

    A lot of odd examples of “cat” switching, though I’m not sure cat swatting is involved. But again, who knows.

    In addition: An interesting link about pen names: https://blog.authorhouse.com/male-authors-who-wrote-under-female-pen-names/

    Nice theme Dave. This is certainly longer than I intended. Susi

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    • Thank you, Susi! Ha! 😂 Gore Vidal was indeed thought of as “catty.” And great Vidal/cat collaboration information! Was there another collaboration on his book “Purr”…um…”Burr”? 🤔 🙂

      Glad to hear that Alan Ritchson has another role coming up. I’m “hugely” impressed with his Jack Reacher portrayal.

      Fascinating link about male authors writing under female pen names.

      Not too long a comment at all! More like very interesting. 🙂

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      • Thanks Dave. Liked your comment re ‘Purr um Bur’. I kinda lean towards Christopher Hitchens’s analysis of the dynamic between Vidal and Buckely, citing Freud’s “narcissism of small differences” between the two, which is I believe is very much a cat thing. And/or the closer the relationship, the more our differences provoke us to defend our ‘self’ness. Swatting is an outlet. What say you Misty? Is Dave becoming more catlike than you or you more humanlike than him? Ha.

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  10. Was briefly tempted, before common sense took hold,of introducing the week’s author to another: archy,of archy and mehitabel,

    whose laborious writings were collected by one Don Marquis. The lower case is as writ– archy couldn’t manage the shift key, for reasons of scant weight and the impossibility of hopping on two keys at once. But I fear, as archy is a mere cockroach, that he may only figure as a plaything in the paws of one such as Misty.

    So forget archy. Instead, fix those feline orbs on the figure of mehitable, self-described female reincarnation of Cleopatra, and also alley cat, which as a bit of rough, might be right up Misty’s alley.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archy_and_Mehitabel

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    • Thank you, jhNY! I’m pretty sure I read “archy and mehitabel” a number of years ago, and I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it. 🙂 Somehow, Misty is able to utilize the caps key, although he was disappointed when no baseball caps subsequently arrived in the mail. The interlocking NY and all that. 🙂 And, yes, insects? Misty has had a few…

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  12. Misty, it is utterly shocking, in fact such a kitty, I mean pity, that Dave just has to hog blog it all here, when a cat of your calibre should of course we here every week. Obviously instead of you being the pest….oops… guest blogger he should be that.

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  13. I think you make up for the pen names, by meandering around under a female sounding name. Then again, the important thing is we know you’re a cat and we know that cats rule – well, they used to. I think that’s what happened to the Sphinx’s nose.

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    • Thank you, Dan! Ha ha! 😂 Yes, the male Misty also knows some gender confusion.

      And I appreciate the valuable historical insight about an Egyptian cat swatting off the Sphinx’s nose. 😂 I guess said nose was less heavy than “War and Peace.” 🙂

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  15. I LOVE Dave’s Fascinating Facts and I LOVE your book too, Misty!!! I’m taking a short break from the blog to spend some quality time with my family. I appreciate your amazing posts and look forward to catching up soon! Thank you for sharing your adventures with me.

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