This is one I picked up at random in a bookshop one day. I had no idea what sort of book it was going to be, but it had a picture of a kitten on the cover and I'm a sucker for cat pictures (really - I even like those stupid lolcat pictures). It turned out to be not exactly an autobiography (by which I mean it's autobiographical, it's not a story in the normal sense of the word, but it's also not a full autobiography. You describe it better. Go on).
The tagline tells us that it's "the true story of an extraordinary cat and his imperfect human", which is as good a way to explain it as any. We follow Peter through his relationship with his cat (whose arrival he strongly resisted, until he actually met Norton), passing by relationships with girlfriends, life and his work on the way.
The first thing I have to say about this book is, if Norton really can do everything Peter claims he can, he really is extraordinary. I want one. And I already have a cat (boy, I hope she doesn't read this. THAT would get awkward...). I mean, I can definitely see why he's so nuts about the cat. It is one awesome animal.
The rest of the book is also very entertaining. Peter humorously tells us about the problems he's had in his life (some of which are solved by Norton, some of which are a direct result of his owning Norton) in such a way that we don't notice that he has effectively talked nonstop about himself for a whole book. I cared about both Peter and Norton, and am currently investigating the existence of a sequel (seriously. I have Amazon open right now), as I really want to know what happened next.
It's in a clever framework, so we don't feel that we're being lectured, and reads in a much less self-centred way than most autobiographies do. Which is good, as I had no idea who the author was before I read this, so a full on autobiography would not have gone down well. Basically, if it taught me anything, it's that books with kittens on the cover are always good. Always.
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