Deplorable Conversations with Cats and Other Distractions

A man finds himself the unwitting companion of a talking cat . . .Lucky Lee has everything—wealth, charm, money, good looks—and does very, very little with it. He’s content. He’s happy. He takes for granted that life is good and always will be. But then his sister, the go-getting, successful, famous TV chef Pearl Lee, dies, horribly and suddenly. Lucky is devastated. As he struggles to live without the big sister who’s always been the dominant, often relentless force in his life, the inconceivable happens—her cat begins to talk to him. It wants to know where Pearl is. It questions his eating habits, his outfit choices, his life. It hogs the TV. It tells him stories. Now grief-stricken Lucky has a major he may very well be mad.‘A surreal road trip embarked upon by a man and his enigmatic but voluble cat transforms into a metaphorical journey from grief and loss, to the wonders of self-discovery and unexpected healing. Their surprising travel adventure from Joo Chiat in Singapore to across the causeway inspires not just the protagonist but any sensitive reader in understanding how the things that matter are seldom the things we thought we desired.’—Cyril Wong, poet and fictionist