Waltzing the Cat by Pam Houston - Wonderful stories by a wonderful writer

When Lucy ORourke was 2 her father threw her into the New Jersey surf. She passed the flotation test then, but nature--wild and human--has been subjecting her to variations on the theme ever since. True, the thirtyish photographer-protagonist of Waltzing the Cat is drawn to dangerous locales, from the Ecuadorian jungle where murderous grand caymans lie at the ready to the Provincetown beaches where her latest nominee for Mr. Right seems only a hair less lethal. But as she has yet to learn, the most elemental struggles begin at home. In the heartbreaking title story, Lucys classically disconnected WASP family channels all available affection through Suzette, their roly-poly feline (29 pounds and counting!). The cat and I were always friends until I left home and fell in love with men who raised dogs and smelled like foreign places. Now when I come home for a visit the cat eyes me, territorial, like an only child.

Lucys survival strategies also desert her when it comes to men. Theyre trouble when they dont want her, more so when they do. In addition, theyre adept at giving the answer no--a trait they share with the males in Pam Houstons equally fine first book, Cowboys Are My Weakness. In The Whole Weight of Me, for instance, Lucys latest lad yet again eases himself out of things when she tells him she wants to see him soon. That would be great, he said, in a voice that said clear as a bell that it wouldnt. And it was like someone had spliced together the wrong rolls of film from two different movies; it was that instantaneous how everything changed.

A less graceful, less wry writer would not be able to map Lucys self-conscious journey of discovery with such ease and agility. Houstons adventurer is the sort of woman who runs into Carlos Castaneda after shes just missed a plane. What everybody says now is, How do you know it was really him, like that is the pertinent question. It was him, I say, like I learned in graduate school, or another man by the same name. I mean, is it less interesting if it was just some guy who thought he was Carlos Castenada, or more? On the other hand, shes also the type who gets recognized while checking out a display of animal-shaped dildos--the kangaroo, the rabbit, the great brown bear, noses and ears turned inward, poised at the ready--in the first sex shop shes dared to enter. Wherever Lucy is, her creator--often in the space of a single sentence--can quickly fill in the most crushing experience with a mix of longing and expertly timed comedy. --Kerry Fried

Wonderful stories by a wonderful writer
Pam Houston's "Walzing the Cat" is one of the best books I've read recently, interconnecting stories full of lyrical writing, jolt-you-to-attention insights, and luminous images. The titular story is perfect in every way, an examination of family, death and the horror of conditional love. Another gem is "The Whole Weight of Me" when our heroine jumps into illuminated water and tells us "When I opened by eyes under the surface, I felt like I was swimming in the stars."

Yes, the character is searching for love, but she is a thinking woman's heroine -- an artist, philosopher, and wounded but tough bird waiting to take flight. In the end, it's only fair that that flight is solo.

A wonderful book... turned me into a Pam Houston fan.

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