Dewey : The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

Ride Theory reviewed Dewey : The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

About 1/3 of a book's worth of cat content

2 stars

The author devotes about a third of this book to the 1980s farm crisis and its effects on a Midwest small town, another third to her own personal history, and the remaining third to Dewey the cat and his effect on the citizens of Spencer. Dewey was essentially a therapy cat to the entire depressed community, and he was exceptionally good at his job. I would have liked to read more about that, but I got the feeling there just weren't enough anecdotes to fill an entire book. It was a bit tiring to read a biography that tilted the balance more toward "his times and life" rather than "his life and times."

Jack Phoenix reviewed Dewey : The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

Review of 'Dewey : The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Warm and sweet and wonderfully simple, Dewey is a feel-good tale for cat-lovers and non cat-lovers alike that tugs at all the heartstrings at once.

Sonya reviewed Dewey : The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

Review of 'Dewey : The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I found this book intriguing because I like cats, I'm from Iowa, and I'm a librarian. If I weren't any of these things, I'd probably still find it somewhat interesting to learn about the 80's farm crisis, general rural living, and what a communal pet can do for the collective psyche. [return][return]The author writes about adopting a cat at the library she was a director for. This was during the 80's, when Iowa was hit with an economic downturn that affected the farming community terribly. Having the cat at the library increased how many people came to the library, and the richness of their interactions. The author also weaves in a personal story about her experiences growing up in a rural Iowa town, the experience of being a single mother, having chronic medical problems, getting an advanced degree while working full time, being a library director, and feelings on being …

I found this book intriguing because I like cats, I'm from Iowa, and I'm a librarian. If I weren't any of these things, I'd probably still find it somewhat interesting to learn about the 80's farm crisis, general rural living, and what a communal pet can do for the collective psyche. [return][return]The author writes about adopting a cat at the library she was a director for. This was during the 80's, when Iowa was hit with an economic downturn that affected the farming community terribly. Having the cat at the library increased how many people came to the library, and the richness of their interactions. The author also weaves in a personal story about her experiences growing up in a rural Iowa town, the experience of being a single mother, having chronic medical problems, getting an advanced degree while working full time, being a library director, and feelings on being a partial-owner of a cat.[return][return]It did drag a bit, but it's one of those stories that is easy to skim to get to the parts that interest you. I think that's the difference between a book I'll happily read (and admit to skimming a bit), and a book that I'll stop reading. I finished this one.