The author shows how taking care of the feral cats in her Poets Square neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, reshaped her understanding of empathy, resilience, and the healing power of wholly showing up for something outside yourself.
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.
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.
“Truly moving; a heartfelt exploration of the humanity at the heart of animal welfare. Courtney masterfully weaves together stories of cats with stories of her own life and the lives of her community members—raw, flawed, and striving for goodness in a complex world. Her journey from cat observer to dedicated caregiver and community builder is profoundly inspiring.”—Hannah Shaw, New York Times bestselling author of Cats of the World
“Cats are mystical beings, bridging the spiritual and the tangible. Courtney Gustafson’s Poet Square is a book that helps us connect to this spiritual world, offering a bridge to the ethereal.”—Ai Weiwei
“Courtney Gustafson writes with uncommon grace about the cast-off, the abandoned, the invisible. This book should be read and treasured for its ability to make the reader more human and humane.”—Lauren Slater, author of Blue Dreams and Lying
“Poets Square is charming and tender, funny-sad, quirky in the best possible way. It’s a story about care and compassion and acts of kindness big and small. I flew through it—and I’m not even a cat person.”—Chloë Ashby, author of Wet Paint
“An addictive read: pure catnip”—Jay Griffiths, author of Wild
“[A] tender debut . . . One need not be a cat person to be enchanted by this.”—Publishers Weekly
“As she contemplates her life and internet virality, Gustafson grapples with perception by the online masses, the significant and empowering love of an animal, misogyny in rescue work, the financial strain of pet ownership, the ache of animal loss, and most importantly, how to develop a community. Her riveting and emotional vignettes are loaded with humanity and all the important lessons we can learn from little creatures just trying to survive.”—Booklist, starred review
“[A] poignant, beautifully written debut memoir, Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats, [is] a book that will change the way readers think about feline and human nature alike. . . . What makes Poets Square stand out among other animal welfare stories is Gustafson’s insistence that the suffering of domestic animals often mirrors the suffering of the people who care for them. . . . A necessary read for those who work and volunteer in animal welfare, Poets Square is also a loving tribute to the way animals can provide ‘bright thriving spots of hope in the world.’”—BookPage
Courtney Gustafson is a cat rescuer, community organizer, and creator of Poets Square Cats on TikTok and Instagram. She lives and works in Tucson, Arizona.
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