The Book, Cat, & Cat Book Lovers Almanac

of historical trivia regarding books, cats, and other animals. Actually this blog has evolved so that it is described better as a blog about cats in history and culture. And we take as a theme the advice of Aldous Huxley: If you want to be a writer, get some cats. Don't forget to see the archived articles linked at the bottom of the page.

March 22, 2012

March 22, 1924

Paul Fussell (March 22, 1924) is an American academic whose writing on literature and 20th century military experience is based on personal experience refracted through a exceptional intellect. He wrote: "Wars damage the civilian society as much as they damage the enemy. Soldiers never get over it."

A small sampling of his books is:

Samuel Johnson and The Life of Writing (1971)
The Anti-Egotist, Kingsley Amis: Man of Letters (1994)
The Great War and Modern Memory (1975).

Fussell also wrote a charming book, Class: a guide through the American status system (1983). When Fussell analyzes the upper class preference for dogs over cats, he expands on Thorstein Veblen, about uselessness being an aspect of 'conspicuous consumption':

The cat is also "less reputable," as Veblen observes, "because she is less wasteful; she may even serve a useful end," like repressing mice. Upper-class cats, the equivalent of poodles in the dog world, are those held to originate in such exotic places (that is, expensive to get to) as Burma and the Himalayas.

After a long career in academia, Fussell and his second wife moved to Oregon.

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