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My Beloved Monster

Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me

Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 2 copies available
1 of 2 copies available

The #1 bestselling author of The Alienist tells the extraordinary story of Masha, a half-wild rescue cat who fought off a bear, tackled Caleb like a linebacker—and bonded with him as tightly as any cat and human possibly can.

Caleb Carr has had special relationships with cats since he was a young boy in a turbulent household, famously peopled by the founding members of the Beat Generation, where his steadiest companions were the adopted cats that lived with him both in the city and the country. As an adult, he has had many close feline companions, with relationships that have outlasted most of his human ones. But only after building a three-story home in rural, upstate New York did he enter into the most extraordinary of all of his cat pairings: Masha, a Siberian Forest cat who had been abandoned as a kitten, and was languishing in a shelter when Caleb met her. She had hissed and fought off all previous carers and potential adopters, but somehow, she chose Caleb as her savior.

For the seventeen years that followed, Caleb and Masha were inseparable. Masha ruled the house and the extensive, dangerous surrounding fields and forests. When she was hurt, only Caleb could help her. When he suffered long-standing physical ailments, Masha knew what to do. Caleb's life-long study of the literature of cat behavior, and his years of experience with previous cats, helped him decode much of Masha's inner life. But their bond went far beyond academic studies and experience. The story of Caleb and Masha is an inspiring and life-affirming relationship for readers of all backgrounds and interests—a love story like no other.
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    • Library Journal

      November 1, 2023

      Perhaps best known for his early novel The Alienist, Carr has also published nonfiction, which he returns to here, after an eight-year break from writing, with a memoir about his life with Masha, a Siberian Forest cat he adopted from a shelter. For 17 years they have stood steadfast, always together. Prepub Alert.

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 26, 2024
      Novelist Carr (the Kreizler series) delivers a lively and moving memoir about his 17-year companionship with a Siberian forest cat named Masha. Carr first met Masha while visiting a shelter in Vermont. The semi-feral cat was rescued from abandonment in an empty apartment and had developed a reputation among the staff for extreme skittishness. When an employee noticed Masha cozying up to Carr, the attendant implored him to adopt her, and he promptly brought her along to his new home in Upstate New York. Masha quickly took on the dominant role—she hated loud music, so Caleb edited his listening habits to satisfy her—and over the pair’s life together, Carr came into his own as a caretaker and a companion. He nursed Masha back to health after attacks from a bear and a pack of dogs, turned a blind eye when she stole visitors’ socks, and tended to her arthritis as his own health started to falter and he underwent surgery for peritonitis. Carr alternates the chronicle of his and Masha’s relationship with details about his unstable New York City childhood, which was marked by violent outbursts from an alcoholic father and drove him to find comfort in the family cats. Carr’s gift for narrative momentum gives shape to the potentially flimsy premise, and he wrings real pathos from this tale of wounded souls finding one another. Even readers without their own furry friend will be moved. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME.

    • Booklist

      March 15, 2024
      It's almost inevitable: when we pick up a book about a beloved animal, real or fictional, we know the ending. Documenting his relationship with rescued Siberian Forest cat Masha, Carr (Surrender, New York, 2016) writes with the same intellectual and descriptive rigor his crime fiction and history books are known for. And despite the foregone conclusion and the fact that, like Masha, the author suffers from diseases that may cut his life short, this narrative poem to the intertwined spirits of a companion animal and her human will live on as a love story of the best, most ethereal kind. In snapshots, Masha fights off a bear and fisher; author and cat deal with her arthritis and his neuropathy; Masha explores the woods and steals houseguests' socks. For his part, Carr battles IRS agents, innumerable hospitalizations, and surgery, forges partnerships with Masha's veterinarian and the caretakers who watch over Masha when he can't, and manages, somehow, to continue to write with aplomb and finesse. Tears will flow, and they will be warranted.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      James Lurie shares the joyous and painful moments of an extraordinary life. Listeners meet Caleb Carr, the late author of the wildly successful novel THE ALIENIST, and his great love, Masha, a Siberian forest cat. Carr's father, Lucien, was a cofounder of the Beat Generation. Caleb suffered emotional and physical abuse from his alcoholic parents. Lurie movingly recounts Caleb's chaotic early life and the spirited cats that saved him. Listeners rejoice when he rescues majestic Masha, who was also abused by her so-called "family." Caleb and Masha "promise" each other to always be together as they age and become ill. Lurie's voice takes on a generous tone as Caleb provides suggestions for other cat owners based on his comprehensive knowledge. Audio highlights their unique bond. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

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