Académie française in 2001. He has written about cats.
In this interview in Le Figaro which we excerpt, we find sentiments which are quite perceptive:
'"Man, in a sense, really became civilized when he accepted the cat by his side, as a free companion, a partner, not a domesticated or domesticated animal, which he never wanted to be, "writes Frédéric Vitoux in his Dictionnaire amoureux en chats , published in 2008 .... Fine connoisseur of the animal, the writer and academician returns on this attraction that men and especially writers for this strange and calm animal.'
LE FIGARO - How do you explain this fascination for cats that we do not necessarily find for other animals, like dogs for example?
Frédéric Vitoux -'What I believe is that people who love dogs love theirs first. Those who live with a German shepherd make fun of poodles, while the one who lives with a cat likes all cats. The interesting question for me is this: why do writers like cats so much? There is between them an intimacy and also an attraction and even a fascination of writers for cats which goes back very far if one considers the writings of du Bellay or Montaigne. The answer is complex but it is partly related to the fact that the cat has a very special status compared to other pets. It is said that the cat, originally wild, has come closer to live with men. He has thus preserved this median status between wild life and domestic life. The A writer likes this strangeness, which Baudelaire magnificently brings out in his sonnets. Vialatte is given the formula God has made the cat "in his great goodness so that the man can caress the tiger". In front of him, we are confronted with the vertigo of an indecipherable mystery. We can not help wondering how much savagery remains in this cat purring next to us. It opens abysses to the imagination. At the same time, the cat is the only animal that can match the loneliness and silence of the writer. an indecipherable mystery. We can not help wondering how much savagery remains in this cat purring next to us. It opens abysses to the imagination. At the same time, the cat is the only animal that can match the loneliness and silence of the writer. an indecipherable mystery. We can not help wondering how much savagery remains in this cat purring next to us. It opens abysses to the imagination. At the same time, the cat is the only animal that can match the loneliness and silence of the writer.'
What did writing for the Cat Lover's Dictionary mean to you ?
'I never had the idea to devote a dictionary to the cat but I wrote in a few months and I had to restrict myself! The interest of a dictionary devoted to the cat is this subject, so exceptional, that it makes it possible to speak of a thousand other things. It is the companion cat but also the cat about writers who have not failed to talk about it. I myself devoted a book to Bébert, Celine's cat who accompanied him in his exile in Germany and Denmark before returning to France, living extraordinary adventures while becoming one of the characters of his latest books. The cat is present in literature, painting, music, cinema, history. One can with him to approach all the subjects. This book is the second best selling of this collection of love dictionaries behind that of Bernard Pivot devoted to wine. We had both made a bet to know which one would sell best. The wine has won. But when Flammarion released the illustrated version, the cats took over. It's still more beautiful!'
And if we were talking about your cats ...
'I lived a long time without pets and it is a bookseller who made me love them, the bookseller who became my wife. Her cat was lying in the window of her shop, taking advantage of the heat of the lights to hide the blankets. He was in the gift package of a life together. I pay a great tribute to my wife for making me discover this animal. Since then, I have never ceased to live with her and a cat. ....'
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