31/07/2024
“A writer without a cat is like a blind man without a cane.” The solitary and individualistic character of cats makes writers identify with them. We could define the relationship between the two as an alliance between completely free beings. Borges confessed himself anarchist, independent, and lonely, without schedules that could condition his creativity. "He does what he wants, like me," the writer said about his faithful cat Beppo.
Felines are politically incorrect, nobodies, night lovers, bohemians, and freelancers—the perfect mix for many of the writers who marked a before and after in the world of literature. Some of them managed to create imperceptible bonds for the remaining mortals, simplifying their magic into one. Charles Bukowski wrote about cats: "They walk with astonishing dignity, they can sleep 20 hours a day without doubt and without remorse, these creatures are teachers." Alexandre Dumas had two cats, Mysouff I and Mysouff II, the latter being the writer's favorite, despite eating all of Dumas' exotic birds on one occasion.
Charles Dickens had a cat named William, whom he renamed Williamina due to the birth of kittens months later in Dickens' studio. Edgar Allan Poe had a cat named Catarina, who often lay on his shoulder as he wrote. The cat inspired the story "The Black Cat." Ernest Hemingway's affection for cats is so well-known that the American journalist Carlene Fredericka Brennen wrote the book *Hemingway’s Cats*, narrating his relationship with these animals. Julio Cortázar named his cat T.W. Adorno, after the German philosopher and sociologist. The writer mentions cats in several of his works, among them *Rayuela* and *The Last Round*.
Hermann Hesse's cat was so restless that the writer spent his free moments running after him through the house. Jean-Paul Sartre's cat, a fluffy white animal, is said to be Nada, a name that fits perfectly with his owner's existentialism. Patricia Highsmith lived happily with her cats; with them, she manage
