Bill Hall, syndicated humor columnist and editorial page editor emeritus for the Lewiston Tribune, has a new job title and a new book to go along with it: "Cat Butler," BookSurge, 2009. In his newly-released, self-published anthology, Hall chronicles his life with cats. He bravely tackles topics like "The Human Cat Breast," and "Why is A Cat So Rude When You're Getting Nude?" Hall ponders the mysteries of spaying and neutering. "I'll never understand why they call it fixing a cat when they break it. That is a euphemism worthy of the Defense Department. If you were to actually fix a cat, you would give it a testicle transplant"/Cindy Hval, special for Huckleberries Online. Full book review below. "Cat Butler" is available at Amazon.com 

Question: Do you treat your cat like a family member? Really?

Bill Hall, syndicated humor columnist and editorial page editor emeritus for the Lewiston Tribune, has a new job title and a new book to go along with it: "Cat Butler," BookSurge, 2009.

        In his newly-released, self-published anthology, Hall chronicles his life with cats. He bravely tackles topics like "The Human Cat Breast," and "Why is A Cat So Rude When You're Getting Nude?"

        Hall ponders the mysteries of spaying and neutering. "I'll never understand why they call it fixing a cat when they break it. That is a euphemism worthy of the Defense Department. If you were to actually fix a cat, you would give it a testicle transplant."

        The antics of Sheldon, Sterling and Delilah will resonate with everyone who has ever owned or been owed by a cat. In one poignant essay, "How Many Cats and Dogs Will We Live?" the author measures the passing of time in relationship to pets. When his youngest son's cat dies Hall realizes he and his wife are truly empty-nesters. "One day you have a kid and a cat," he wrote. "Then you just have the cat. And when the cat dies, you suddenly realize the kid is gone. In his place is a man who sometimes comes home to visit."

        The 52 essays in "Cat Butler," will amuse and inspire the reader. I read several of them to my kitten Milo. He fell asleep during a couple and felt the need to give himself a thorough bath during the others. When I read him a piece titled, "Do We Resemble Our Cats? he immediately began chasing his tail, until he collapsed in a pool of sunlight, exhausted by his efforts.

         While I doubt the book will inspire that response in humans-- it could. After all, as Hall writes, "There is a kitten in all of us that escapes once in awhile to frolic in the sun."