Tail Talk

By Lucile E. Manley

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1403348790
• ISBN13: 9781403348791
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: Authorhouse
• Length: 116 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Zen of Litter Box Maintenance

I have never met Lucile Manley, but I know I would like her. The author of Tail Talk has just the right attitude toward our furry friends--tolerance, respect, and (dare I say it) love. Best of all, she has humor. Any book that can make me laugh out loud is a winner, and this book does just that. It is a privilege for me to review it for the Humboldt Beacon, our local newspaper. I had trouble picking a favorite chapter (they're all so good) but "Now and Zen" finally won my vote. I will never look at a litter box in quite the same way again.

The book is "Tail Talk" by Lucile E. Manley, and my review

If you are a person who has decided that cats should not be a part of your life, this book will confirm all the reasons for your decision. If you are a cat lover, you will relate to all the frustrations, demands and delights of being owned by a cat (especially a French-speaking one). Thoroughly entertaining,funny, and imaginative with delightful illustrations, Tail Talk will make a fine gift to anyone, regardless of feline bias.

Cat lover or not, you'll laugh out loud

Tail Talk is a witty recounting of a relationship that begins when the author arrives fresh from the city with plans to grow flowers and vegetables which the gophers think are delicious. Manley buys a $1900 fence at the advice of her neighbor and looks for a cat to kill the gophers. She doesn't really want a cat. They are lots of trouble, tearing up the upholstery, throwing up on the rug in front of company and shedding hair all over the house. But there are those gophers, so she goes to an animal shelter and falls in love with a fifteen pound orange fur ball she names Barbara. The book tells of the adjustments necessary to live with a cat. How do you adjust to a cat with gourmet tastes who loves the food one day and bats it off the dish and tries to bury it the next? How do you teach the cat to use the cat scratcher rather than your furniture? "Demonstrate," says Lucile, "with your own nails. My fingernails look great. I don't have to trim them half as often as I used to." And then there is the name Barbara for a male cat. This causes much stress for the veterinarian.Cat lover or not, you will find these stories both amusing and hysterically funny and will want to read them aloud to your friends. As far as I can tell, the gophers are still enjoying the garden.

A Cat With an Attitude

TAIL TALK by Lucile E. ManleyIllustrated by Mary E. ScottHighly Recommended. Give it to a friend. Take a break from world turmoil and personal worries; read this book. If it doesn't make you laugh out loud, you are beyond hope.Adoption of a cat can be a life-altering experience. Lucile Manley, avid gardener, wants a cat to eliminate gophers from her garden, provide warm, furry companionship, and never scratch the furniture. A cat to fill her "owner's" needs. Barbara Orange Cat has a different agenda.In twenty delightful chapters, enchanced by Mary E. Scott's hilarious illustrations, Manley describes life with Barbara. The way Barbara uses her tail to communicate, her early morning demands for food (but only certain food), her needs in proper accomodations and equipment, including a Zen Garden litter-box, and her complete disdain for gopher hunting--all strengthen the bond between cat and human--and raise questions as to which is superior. Barbara remains Barbara Orange Cat, even though the Vet points out that she is a male cat.Read TAIL TALK for fun and understanding. Manley says, "There's a lot to be learned from living with a cat." She offers a list of directions for selecting a cat at the animal shelter, then adds, "If your first glance at a whiskered, furry face tears out your heart, forget all of the above... you have found your very own personal cat."