"CAT AND BIRD, a 'memoir in animals,' is anchored around Kyoko Mori's relationship with the six house cats who defined major eras of her life as a writer: Dorian, Oscar, Ernest, Algernon, Miles, and Jackson. Detailing the rhythms of their days together, she weaves a narrative tapestry out of her past: the deep family tragedy that marked her childhood in Japan, her move to the American Midwest as a young adult, her experiences as a bird rehabilitator,...

"Ueda Akinari was a creative figure of unique talent in eighteenth-century Japan - a prolific writer of fiction, poetry, and personal and scholarly essays. He is best known as the author of Ugetsu Monogatari, a collection of short stories which numbers among the most beloved of Japanese classics."--Jacket.