BOOK REVIEW: The Boy, Me and the Cat

 I'm not a bibliophile (although I did spell it correctly before I looked it up), but I do love books. Mostly, I love the telling of a great story. Last year at Christmas, Bob and Glenda gave me a variety of nice things (Glenda is a great gift giver) that included the book on the right.

 WARNING: This is a little longer post than usual . . . .

It is hardback with a woven cover. There was no title on the front or back, no pictures, no logo, just the stippled feel of an old cloth cover. The title was on the spine: “The Boy, Me And The Cat – Henry M. Plummer.” And the aroma: the smell of heavy paper, a whiff of cloth bound with glue, and just a hint of mustiness – maybe almost a touch of mold. It reminded me of our Grandfather's “library” in his West Grove, PA house, books lined on the shelves – shelves completely covering three walls, the slight musty smell of them, maybe a sneeze of dust – where the cousins “hid the thimble” and disturbed the sanctity of them.(see note #1 below)   I had also known about the book from other sailboat cruising references – and it was reputed to be a great sailing story. And it is. 1912-1913, an engineless  30 year old 24.5 foot catboat, a 15 foot dory with a 3 horsepower engine, a son, a cat, the East coast from New Bedford to Miami, and lots of time – can dreams turn out any better?

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Mr. Plummer, 

    “The Author

      The Illustrator

      The Editor

      The Publisher

      The Printer

      The Binder

       and the Captain of the Mascot,” (Preface, page X) 

tells the story through his logbook. He writes who he is: genuine, honest, and with an understated sense of humor.   If you were sitting on the porch on a warm summer's day drinking a beer and telling stories with Mr. Plummer, time would pass so fast that dinnertime would arrive before you were hungry – and you would have to listen very carefully to know when to laugh. You might even get a few good recipes for your next meal.

 

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I'll just give you a little teaser of the author's writing style. On the third log entry on page 2A, Mr. Plummer writes:

“October 14^th. Mighty busy cup o'tea this morning. Tumbled all the “last things” on board. Crawled under the shed, caught the cat rubbed her full of flea powder, and dropped her into a gunny sack to moult. Will have troubles enough without fleas.”

As cited above, Mr. Plummer is also the illustrator.  I just love the drawings.  Here is his drawing of the cat.

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I won't ruin the mystery by telling you how it was originally published.  Just pop on over to amazon.com - quick – there are only 6 left!! Or, better yet, ask for it through “interlibrary loan” at your local library. You won't get the cloth bound edition like mine, but at least it won't be on your kindle.

Note #1: It could be that our Grandfather read some or all of the books in his library, but I think he was more well known in family lore when he was in his 80's, for having to use a cover for his paperback books to hide “scantily clad” women.