Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats

By Courtney Gustafson

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - An intimate memoir about the importance of community and care in a world that can feel impossibly broken--and a story about accidentally going viral while tending to a colony of feral cats.

AN NPR AND CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

When Courtney Gustafson moved into a rental house in the Poets Square neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, she didn't know that the property came with thirty feral cats. Focused only on her own survival--in a new relationship, during a pandemic, with poor mental health and a job that didn't pay enough--Courtney was reluctant to spend any of her own time or money caring for the wayward animals.

But the cats--their pleading eyes, their ribs showing, the new kittens born in the driveway--didn't give her a choice.

She had no idea about the grief and hardship of animal rescue, the staggering size of the problem in neighborhoods across the country. And she couldn't have imagined how that struggle--toward an ethics of care, of individuals trying their best amid spectacularly failing systems--would help pierce a personal darkness she'd wrestled with for much of her life. She also didn't expect that the TikTok and Instagram accounts she created to share the quirky personalities of the wild but lovable cats, like Monkey, Goldie, Francois, and Sad Boy, would end up saving her home.

Courtney writes toward a vision of connectedness, showing how taking care of the cats reshaped her understanding of empathy, resilience, and the healing power of wholly showing up for something outside yourself. She takes us from the dark alleys where she feeds feral cats to inside the tragically neglected homes where she climbs over piles of trash, and occasionally animals, and then into her own driveway with the cats she loves and must sometimes let go. Compelling and tender, Poets Square is as much about cats as it is about the urgency of care, community, and a little bit of dumb hope.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0593727614
• ISBN13: 9780593727614
• Release Date: April 2025
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Poet’s Square – a story of becoming and coming home to oneself

Some reflections as I finish the book: • What cats can teach us about boundaries, presence, and persistence. • The nuanced difference between being feral and being wild, and how it reflects in both cats and humans. • The delicate balance between building community and respecting autonomy. Understanding culture, class, and access yo resources. • The power of consistency, rapport, and genuine relationship-building. • This book invites us to ask:When is caring for others truly about them, and when is it about how we want to feel? When does our intention to help inadvertently cause harm? • The tension observed in others and herself between pouring love into cats, while questioning to support humans— of who we consider deserving and undeserving. Many moment of honest introspection that will lead the reader to think. This book is beautiful, tender, and honest. Through the unfolding story of a feral cat colony, Courtney Gustafson, weaves a open, honest, and heartfelt narrative about the transformative magic of opening up to love—of cats, and of community. This is the first non-fiction I have read in sometime & it was beautiful. Rarely does a book speak so candidly and nuanced about topics often not talked about in society: motherhood, finances, womanhood, and love, while also exploring the grace and nuance of humanity. Whether or not you’re a cat person, Poet’s Square is a story for all lovers of narrative and connection. The writing is strong, beautiful, clear, and poetic