Elizabeth Thomas seems to know a lot about cats and if you can force yourself to read this book you will undoubtedly learn a bit about felines large and small. However, prepare yourself for a slog. The tone suggests that she is a little too impressed with her many field trips to be good company and she belabors much of her telling. I received this as a Christmas gift in December 2007 from a friend aware of my long history with and love of cats (I have lived with cats since 1964.) I have picked up and put down the book multiple times over that year and finally decided I am not going to finish it. Life is too short.