Book Review: My One Extraordinary Life: A Feline Memoir
My One Extraordinary Life: A Feline Memoir. T. D. Arkenberg, Outskirts Press, November 24, 2021, Print and eBook, 267 pages.
Review by Lisa Lickel.
Although a memoir, My One Extraordinary Life: A Feline Memoir, is really a fictional autobiographical adventure of one Dickens-quoting, Twain-reading homeless camp cat, Fluff, who learns the world is bigger than his slightly squashed cardboard container. He has a role to play, even if the first step is to venture outside of one’s box in the European city of Brussels, a place author T.D. Arkenberg knows well from living there once upon a time.
In the territory of temporaries, Fluff learns that there exist tribal hierarchies. All manner of creatures exist side by side, and humans are known as “uprights.” When Fluff comes home from one of his romps, only brother Auguste welcomes him. However, it’s not long before Fluff is abandoned with the dismal advice that “it happens to us all. Time for you to stand on your own four paws.” Grumps, an older cat, has filled Fluff’s head with tales of adventure, and when Fluff believes he’s been orphaned, he decides, though hesitant and fearful, to dream big and explore the world and hopefully find his lost family. It’s not always easy to know who to trust, and sometimes one just has to get his paws dirty to achieve results.
Betrayal and misconceptions abound, clarify, twist, and shimmer as these friends get separated. They run into old chums and make new ones, reunite only to be recaptured, find themselves embroiled in “turf issues,” uncover a dastardly international trafficking scheme and an even greater horror of biological terrorism and research. A lot is going on in this page-turning story. Tempted to stay in certain posh situations when they occasionally meet a human they think of adopting, the friends overhear rotten plans and resolve to rescue the victims.
Friends need friends. When Fluff and Penelope realize they’re in over their heads, they reach out to both known and new two and four-leggeds to assist them as they work to thwart the traffickers. They work to restore their own families and those of their formerly misunderstood friends.
Filled with delicious cat-themed puns, Brussels street life, danger, adventure, and even romance, readers of Lillian Jackson Braun will love My One Extraordinary Life: A Feline Memoir. As we’re encouraged in the author’s introduction to recognize and appreciate our lives, this story of using our wits, paying attention to the small things, networking, and taking a risk should spark introspection and conversation. I highly recommend this as a holiday gift.