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Waiting for My Cats to Die

stacy horn

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When Stacy Horn--single, deeply addicted to television, and hopelessly attached to two diabetic cats--turned forty, she free-falled into a mid-life crisis. Waiting for My Cats to Die is a passionately and profoundly honest look at what happens the moment you realize--beyond a shadow of a doubt--that some day the credits will roll on your life. There are all those things you haven't done yet. There are all those things you have and wish you hadn't. In the battle against time, a frontal attack is the best strategy.

Horn explores abandoned cemeteries and descends into crypts. She researches long-lost relatives, interviews the elderly, and learns all she can about the ghost haunting her apartment. No sign indicating the downward pull of things goes unnoticed. And yet life, with so much to celebrate, is irresistible. Here is a wonderful, quirky, refreshing memoir of hilarity and heartache: life at the mid-point of life.

320 pages, Paperback

First published February 1,2001

This edition

Format
320 pages, Paperback
Published
January 17, 2002 by St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN
9780312287443
ASIN
0312287445
Language
English

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About the author

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stacy horn

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I've just finished up my seventh non-fiction book, the Killing Fields of East New York, followed by a very long subtitle. First I thought I was telling the story of why a particular neighborhood in Brooklyn had the highest number of unsolved murders in New York. Then I realized I was also telling the story of white collar crime and how it is more destructive than street crime. In the end, I saw that the core of the story went even deeper and was far more terrible.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 33 votes)
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33 reviews All reviews
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0piila
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Read in 2008. Cats. Death. The Social Internet. (The author created a social internet site called echonyc...well before Facebook.) And Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All the themes that run through this memoir speak deeply to me. It is my favourite book of 2008 so far. Perhaps my favourite book of the decade.

Reread it, November 2021. My favorite book of the century so far.
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saosurvivor69
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This was a weird book: a collection of the author's thoughts on death, loneliness and her self-described midlife crisis, combined with little vignettes about old places in New York and a few interviews with older people on how they think about their lives. And let's not forget the description of the death of one of her beloved cats. Although these are heavy topics, the author has a sense of humor about life and seems to have made peace with her anxieties and fears by the book's end.

As someone who's sort of obsessed with death myself, I liked this book, although it may not be for everyone.
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melon1880
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Loved "Waiting for My Cats to Die", especially its wry humor, self-effacing honesty and the hands-on research that much of it was based on. I lived in Stacy's neighborhood in the 80s and even know one or two of the people she mentioned in the book. I also have two elderly dogs so could totally relate to Stacy's love for her cats. In fact I felt like I was reading a book written by a close friend. And thank you Stacy for visiting Hart Island and letting us know it isn't such a bad place. Two people I was close to are buried there, and I feel comforted by your description. Can't wait to read more of Stacy's work, she's a uniquely talented voice.
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CaptainThad
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I only read a few pages of this book. The title of it was interesting, but I couldn't get into it. One of the few books I have opened that I actually had to simply put down.
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RoryBreaker
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I picked up Waiting for My Cats to Die because she mentioned having a diabetic cat -- and at the time, so did I. I didn't really know what to expect from the book. The title is morbid, of course :). However, this is a really interestingly organized autobiography. You'll laugh, and you will cry. I don't normally read autobiographies -- but this one is one I am glad I made the exception for.
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painless_j
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I could barely get past the first few chapters. I never knew death could be talked of in such a boring manner. Ugh.
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