The House Guests

The House Guests: An Account of Life with Two Cats, including Some Random Comment on Other Matters, as well as Stories of Incidental Beasts, among them One Goose.

Sounds charming, doesn’t it?

The copy I saw, a paperback, had cute pictures of animals on the cover, and jacket copy that hinted at humor.

I settled in to read something sweet and funny – not to mention well written, because the author was John D. MacDonald, a famous and popular mystery writer.

Oops.

What’s that about not being able to judge a book by its cover?

This book has a few nice bits, but it has some sickening accounts of cruelty and suffering, too.

Well, let me give an example, and maybe the most awful story in the book. (I’m doing this from memory. I put my copy out for sale long since. I didn’t want it on my shelf, reminding me of the ugliness within. So bear with me, please. I’ll do my best.)

The author, as a boy, is astonished one day when a bigger boy invites him to go for a walk, just the two of them. This is an honor. Excited, he goes. Along the way, they come across a cat. The older boy decides the cat should be thrown in a pond. I can’t remember whether young John MacDonald was talked into helping throw the animal into the water or whether he just stood by and let it happen. What I remember is his horrified fascination that this other boy, this hero of his, would get a great deal of satisfaction out of tossing a dumb animal into the water again and again until it was dead – and his horror and fascination that the cat, again and again, with the whole wide world to steer toward, invariably, and to its detriment, would surface, look around, and then would swim toward the only people in sight. Them. The two boys who were tormenting it, and would not stop the torment until the animal was dead.

I need help. Oh, there’s somebody…

I hasten to add that John D. MacDonald was not proud of his participation. It haunted him, clearly.

The House Guests has become a collectible book, with copies in poor condition fetching ten to thirty bucks, and ones in good condition rarely showing up for less than $50, and the prices above that ranging up to $750 (for a presentation copy, with inscription and autograph).