If Cats Disappeared from the World

Hardcover, 176 pages

Published March 12, 2019 by Flatiron Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-29405-0
OCLC Number:: 1051780297

(2 reviews)

A beautifully moving tale of loss and reaching out to the ones we love, of one man’s journey to discover what really matters in modern life.

Our narrator’s days are numbered. Estranged from his family, living alone with only his cat Cabbage for company, he was unprepared for the doctor’s diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can set about tackling his bucket list, the Devil appears with a special offer: in exchange for making one thing in the world disappear, he can have one extra day of life. And so begins a very bizarre week . . .

Because how do you decide what makes life worth living? How do you separate out what you can do without from what you hold dear? In dealing with the Devil our narrator will take himself – and his beloved cat – to the brink. Genki Kawamura's If …

A beautifully moving tale of loss and reaching out to the ones we love, of one man’s journey to discover what really matters in modern life.

Our narrator’s days are numbered. Estranged from his family, living alone with only his cat Cabbage for company, he was unprepared for the doctor’s diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can set about tackling his bucket list, the Devil appears with a special offer: in exchange for making one thing in the world disappear, he can have one extra day of life. And so begins a very bizarre week . . .

Because how do you decide what makes life worth living? How do you separate out what you can do without from what you hold dear? In dealing with the Devil our narrator will take himself – and his beloved cat – to the brink. Genki Kawamura's If Cats Disappeared from the World is a story of loss and reconciliation, of one man’s journey to discover what really matters in modern life.

This beautiful tale is translated from the Japanese by Eric Selland, who also translated The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide. Fans of The Guest Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles will also surely love If Cats Disappeared from the World

3 editions

Chungledown Bim reviewed If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura

Review of 'If Cats Disappeared from the World' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

So maybe the narrator is an unlikeable, fairly dim, sanctimonious egoist. Maybe the translation has missed some subtlety, instead of friendly & simple, the tone is very patronising. Maybe I just don’t get it. I can’t wait for the protagonist to (I can only assume) wake up from his dream having learned an important lesson on the inherent value of the meaninglessness of existence. Or just die already. Fuck.

I’m glad this book was short, so short I decided to finish it. Chapter Friday gave me an unexpected ugly cry. (Ameliorated almost immediately by the fuckery of ‘You just decide whether you’re happy or sad’, oh please). Read it or not, you’ll have lost a couple hours to pointless psuedospuritual pap, but gained a quiet sit in a comfy chair.

João Aguiar

rated it

July 18, 2022