Customer Reviews
A Must For Cat Lovers - By: K. Fay, 04 Dec 2008 
This book is really funny. With great anecdotes that we have all done & seen but are funnier written down. The book looses its focus a little towards the end but still a great book. Especailly when you related it to a cat you know & love.
Real cat lovers guide - By: R. Gell, 23 Apr 2008 
Terry Pratchett has a wonderful sense of humour as can be seenin his Discworld series books. He applies the same sense of humour to this book. There are honest observations of cats, their types are described by the real cat, cartoon cat etc & how to recognise them, & all deliveredin short bursts filled with wit. loved it.
don't read this book on the bus, - By: aliss, 20 Apr 2004 I did, all of it. i have'nt laughed that muchin ages. as a life-long cat adoptee i read so much that was so true i couldnt help myself. no one would sit my me & all the old ladies tutted but it was worth it. i bought it as a present for a friend, but she got it late as i had to read it again then show everyone else the best bits. reveals a hell of a lot about cats & completely dismisses the idea of a human "owning" one. a must read for all cat people.
Show's you how to spot a real cat - By: Sally-Anne, 25 Oct 2003 
Terry Pratchett is concerned that *real* cats are under threat of extinction, driven out of the race by bred cats - the type people actually pay good money for ... & lots of it. This book supports his "campaign for real cats" by helping those who share his concern about their preservation to recognise them & distinguish them from all the unreal cats.
He writes funny books so it comes as no surprise that The Unadulterated Cat is funny. I've enjoyed his Discworld books & "Good Omens" but my brother, who has 3 cats (all real), says he can't get into TP's books. He doesn't know what he's missing & this book seemed the answer, so I bought it for him. Then I couldn't resist reading it myself. Well, it's not his birthday or anything - I just wanted to force him to enjoy TP's books. He must recognise the catsin the book because he's actually described most of the behaviour of Terry's real catsin anecdotes about his own cats. I very much doubt that he'll share the author's fear about the extinction of the real cat however. He livesin an area that seems to have 5 feral or farm cats to every wild bird, but they don't run out of food because the area is also full of deranged cat lovers who are willing to adopt or at least feed half a dozen or more that wanderin from the woods & fields. I just wonder whether the mad cat folk started off unhinged or all those cats unhinged them. Sadly, the book doesn't answer that question. But it is funny & cat owners/slaves/staff will recognise the ikkle pickles as well as themselves, probably.
Hilarious insight into cat behavior - By: Daniel Jolley, 18 Mar 2003 Terry Pratchett is, as far as I’m concerned, the funniest writer to ever live, & while The Unadulterated Cat flies far afield of the mythical Discworld universe, it is simply hilarious. You don’t have to be a cat lover to enjoy it, but only the cat lover can appreciate the strong current of truth that runs throughout this wildly comical look at the world of our feline friends. The Campaign For Real Cats, Pratchett tells us, wants to celebrate the dwindling number of Real Catsin the world by helping people identify Real Cats among their modern, Unreal Cat compatriots. To this end, Pratchett goes about describing how to spot a Real Catin any of its several variations, defines eleven types of cats such as your classic farm cat, boot-faced cat (as Real as they come), arch-villain’s cat (always Unreal), & cartoon cats. He offers useful tips on naming cats, describes common illnesses such as impatient feet, gives tips on feeding & disciplining cats, describes common cat games, indulgesin the theory of the Schrodinger, time-traveling cat, looks at the catin history, & offers other insightful, highly comical ideas & theories on cat-nessin general. All of these subjects are examined, of course, from the point of the view of the cat. By far the funniest & most insightful section is devoted to the games cats play; the book’s worth acquiring for this one section alone.
I should point out the fact that this isin no way a useful guide for current or potential cat-owners; this is rollicking comedy from first page to last. Given this point, there are still a number of astute observations that will make cat lovers smile & perhaps even guffaw, for the behaviors Pratchett expounds upon are quite familiar to those sharing their lives with feline friends. Pratchett really captures the cat personality remarkably well at times; for example, he expounds upon the common shifty look cats wear by describing one particular cat as breathingin a manner that suggests it is stealing air with every breath it takes. This book is so insightful & screamingly funny that all Pratchett fans will surely get a big kick out of it. The numerous cartoons of Gray Jolliffe that fill this little book are also excellent, simple yet evocative. The Unadulterated Cat is a short read, mind you, requiring much less than an hour’s effort, but it is so good that upon finishing it, you are quite likely to turn all the way back to the beginning & start again or, at the very least, go back to the sections you enjoyed the most & read them once more.
