P.S. Your Cat Is Dead

by James Kirkwood Jr.

Book Overview

It's New Year's Eve in New York City. Your best friend died in September, you've been robbed twice, your girlfriend is leaving you, you've lost your job...and the only one left to talk to is the gay burglar you've got tied up in the kitchen... P.S. your cat is dead. An instant classic upon its initial publication, P.S. Your Cat is Dead received widespread critical acclaim and near fanatical reader devotion. The stage version of the novel was equally...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312321201
• ISBN13: 9780312321208
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Cheesy classic

I read this book on a recommendation of a barfly. It's a quick read, full of humor and lots of outdated slang. Not a very believable story but still a fun read nonetheless.

A favorite from my youth

I am now 36 years old and I read and reread this book when I was in my mid-teens. I love this author and think, after a lifetime of reading novels, that he was a unique and under-appreciated talent. This book is funny and goes off the deep edge, which is great. It is not for the tame of heart or the morally judgemental types. A big part of its charm, for me, is that it takes people of questionable morals and questionable intentions and shows their humanity, and their complexity. Many of Kirkwood's books have undercurrents of homosexual content that is left unresolved, or unqualified. I like that about it too.

What breaks you? What happens then?

I found this one of the best books I've read.The focus of the book is an average bloke, hit with a very unusual set of grim cirumstances of loss.He breaks, but he has a stranger to take out his frustrations out on. This is a highly comical, yet very serious study in Sadism vs. Masochism vs. relaity.To enjoy this book, you have to be prepared to examine yourself. And end up being neutral considering circumstances of grief, odd forms of friendship and sexuality. IOW: you have to be prepared to accept the emotional undercurrants of life.But the book isn't about sexuality. It's about living life.Lani

you will never laugh harder, or loan - & lose - more copies

if you love witty writing - this comedy of errors, losses and loves will break your heart with laughter. buy all the copies you can find. you will loan them all, lose them all - and happily go to great lengths to find more. it will make you lifelong friends with your local used book stores. . . life is never funnier, and rarely more challenging. "P.S." lampoons the seriousness with which we hold pale tragedy, and forces deeper examination of what is profound and important in life. and of the enduring nature of trust. part bombeck and buckwald and robin williams, part 'zen and the art', and as atmospheric as `la cage au folles' and `midnight in the garden' - this gentle philosophical picture of the oddest of couples celebrates hidden eccentricity, and the humanity that binds us all - through the most trying of circumstances.as james kirkwood is long gone, we will never know what happened to jimmy and vito. and, like people who touch us as they pass through our lives before disappearing into the mist, we will always wonder...if you've ever felt like - you just can't go on. and you're taking life far too hard, and far too seriously. and life's small and inconsequential problems are about to bury you, despite their seeming pettiness... then read. and laugh until your face aches, and smiles cramp your cheeks,,, and fall in love with life again.then buy every copy you can find. because the honesty and whimsy are too special to go unshared. and you will always know someone who will love to read this book, and then share it too.where ever you are, james kirkwood - for this, and for `the chorus line' - thank you.

THE BEST-HELP-ME-GET-THROUGH-THIS-NIGHT-BOOK EVER!

OH, THE PERNICIOUS VACUOUSNESS OF IT ALL! WHY ISN'T THIS BOOK AVAILABLE? LISTEN TO US! AND UNDERSTAND, THAT WE NEED THIS BOOK! WHY DO YOU FORSAKE US? O.K., I'M DONE. WHAT WILL GET THIS BOOK BACK WHERE IT SHOULD BE? A HUNGER STRIKE MAYBE, ON YOUR FRONT DOORSTEPS,IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO YOUR FACILITIES? A PETITION? IS IT THE PRINTERS- I'M SURE SOME OF US CAN TYPE VERY WELL, OR IS IT THE PAPER ITSELF, IS THERE A SHORTAGE? I WILL GLADLY LET YOU THROW MY FURNITURE INTO THE CHIPPER! I HAD A COPY FOR YEARS-IT WAS TAPED, GLUED, AND WHEN AT REST, BOUND WITH RUBBER BANDS TO KEEP IT FROM TOTAL COLLAPSE. I BELIEVE IN SHARING A GOOD THING THOUGH,SO I GLADLY LET A FRIEND BORROW IT, AND I NEVER SAW IT AGAIN. I MISS THAT UNEVEN STACK OF YELLOWING PAGES. THE PEOPLE HERE HAVE SPOKEN SO ELOQUENTLY ON THE BOOK AND IT'S AUTHOR,THEY'VE PRETTY MUCH SAID IT ALL; PLEASE LISTEN! GIVE US BACK UNLIMITED NUMBERS OF OUR BOOK! (CLUTCHING OUR RAGGEDY COPIES TO OUR CHEST, WE NEED A FIX)...

Unequalled to any recent book with humor, satire, tears.

This book is just one of Kirkwood's many, with insight to human behaviour. He could get you spell-bound with his phrases, descriptions, dialog. Talked on phone one time with him, and he talked just like he wrote. When he died, I almost stopped reading. His 'dead cat' is just one which displays his ability to make you 'see' the characters, and know them. He could make your stomach hurt from laughing, reduce you to tears, and make you realize just how precious we all are. His 'dead cat' should be taught in schools; perhaps it would encourage more compassion and humor into our daily, often-stressed lives. Mr. Kirkwood had a unique way of telling a story. One could almost reach out and feel the room, Vito, Jimmay...Bobby Seale (his real cat), and his selfishly-loving Aunt, whom he almost shot via Ma Bell. Tremendous book. I have had to tape my copy together; it's been shared so much. I would like to have his entire collection in my library. Must have read each one twenty times. I really miss his passing, and his gifts to humankind, in the name of satirical comedy-drama. What a guy! We've all had one of THOSE days when even getting up in the morning seemed like the wrong thing to do. He was so able to put these feelings in print, and make some sense out of it all. We shake our heads, and say, "Yep, been there, Jimmy." I truthfully want to fill my library with all of his books, which will be hard, since a lot are out of print. Shouldn't be...he gave so much to us. Laughter is wonderful, and Mr. Kirkwood did his all to produce some belly-laughs, and some tears. And lots of insight to me. I understand my human contacts a lot better now. I am not alone when I say that James Kirkwood left a great legacy... himself. I watched him get a Grammy on t.v. from Kirk Douglas, for A Chorus Line. I was as thrilled as he was. I don't think anyone could put this book down after reading the cover. Too hilarious and touching...one of his many masterpieces. Ganoog is Ganoog. I'm finished.