The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World

A truly wonderful book—and a must read for anyone with a lion in their living room."—Dr. Like all the best nonfiction, it will make you think twice about the world around you."—Elizabeth Kolbert, bestselling author of THE SIXTH EXTINCTION: An Unnatural History "A delightful and warmhearted romp through the history of the world's most puzzling creature: The domesticated cat. After reading this book, no one will ever look at a cat the same way."—Irene Pepperberg, bestselling author of ALEX AND ME: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Int

Her work has been featured in the Best American Science and Nature Writing series. She previously wrote for TheBaltimore Sun. . The first word of both of her daughters was “cat.” She is the author of The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World. Abigail Tucker was the first ever staff writer for Smithsonian magazine, where she remains a contributor

A New York Times bestseller about how cats conquered the world and our hearts in this “deep and illuminating perspective on our favorite household companion” (Huffington Post).House cats rule bedrooms and back alleys, deserted Antarctic islands, even cyberspace. A “lively read that pounces back and forth between evolutionary science and popular culture” (The Baltimore Sun), The Lion in the Living Room suggests that we learn that the appropriate reaction to a house cat, it seems, might not be aww but awe.. And unlike dogs, cats offer humans no practical benefit. She visits the labs where people sort through feline bones unearthed from the first human settlements, treks through the Floridian wilderness in search of house cats-turned-hunters on the loose, and hangs out with Lil Bub, one of the world’s biggest celebrities—who just happens to be a cat.“Fascinating” (Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Lion in the Living Room and the House Cat in the Boondocks Abigail Tucker’s first book looks like it’s just about feline pets, but in reality it concerns history, natural history, genetics, epidemiology, sociology, invasive species biology, extinctions, and euthanasia. In fact, it’s the best book I’ve ever read on cats. I learned how cats became domesticated—they domesticated humans rather than vice versa. I also learned that all domesticated cats came from one species, Felis silvestris lybica, the African wildcat, often called the African forest cat. With house cats now outnumbering dogs in American families and in the wild, Tucker tells us why this is . They do love predictability and schedules and can be acclimated to those B. Shaw The book is well-written and provocative, but in the end I do not think the author has lived long enough with enough cats to really understand the nature of the house cat. I have lived with 25 cats in my 68 years -- not all 25 at the same time. Each of these cats has taught me something new.The author argues that cats are not social; this true and not true. Some of my cats have been friends to each other, littermates or not. How do I know? Because they slept by each other, ate with each other, played with each other, and hung out by each other over and over through their lives together. Other cats did not have cat "friends." . "The Secrets Behind the Cat" according to Abby. Don't be fooled. Your precious Fuzzykins is a barely-domesticated hypercarnivore who is probably hypnotizing you with its parasite tainted urine-- when not busy hunting endangered species into extinction."Many cat lovers, pondering their blind devotion to a savage little archcarnivore, privately wonder if they might be just a little touched in the head."Well, as a life-long cat lover, I can honestly say I have never wondered this. But author Abigail Tucker did and set out to discover just why people-- including herself-- are so crazy for cats. What caused her to stay awake at night worrying that someone might kidnap her ginge