We'll Prescribe You a Cat

by Ishida Syou

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

We'll Prescribe You a Cat is the first collection of interconnected vignettes by Syou Ishida. Originally released in Japanese in 2021, this English language translation was released 3rd Sept 2024 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint. It's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

This is a relaxingly cozy, warmly written book with several vignettes about people whose lives are touched by feline interactions. The "patients" run the gamut from businessmen to a youngster, and it's a redemptive and sentimental read (in a good way). 

The translation work by E. Madison Shimoda is completely seamless and unobtrusive. It doesn't read like literature in translation and although set in Japan with Japanese names and settings, the scansion and prose flow very well in English. 

Four stars. Well written. There are a fair number of cozy Japanese "lifestyle" stories, it's become a popular genre. It's not derivative at all, but fans of The Full Moon Coffee Shop, the Morisaki Bookshop books, and the Kamogawa Food Detectives , will likely enjoy this one as well.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.