Published by: Ingrid King. Last Updated on: February 7, 2023 by Crystal Uys
This post contains affiliate links*
Dining and Driving with Cats: Alice Unplugged by Pat Patterson is one of the more unusual books I’ve read in a while. This story of a couple who takes their two cats on a road trip from Mexico to North Carolina is memoir, love story, travelogue and restaurant review all in one highly entertaining package.
From the publisher:
Here is the remarkable story of how a girl who loved cats captured the heart of a young man who came in from the rain. This is their story of a shared love for travel and history, for food and for their sweet and wily cats Munchie and Tuffy. No cats were harmed during the writing of this book, although the humans have been left with minor physical scars from this very real trip with two very real cats.
Tortoiseshell Munchie and black Tuffy are seasoned travelers who accompany their humans on most of their dining adventures, which leads to some rather funny situtations, including one with former Vice President Al Gore. A couple of incidents will have you reading with your heart in your throat (but see the comment above about no cats being harmed during the writing of the book!)
It’s a given that cat lovers will like this book, but since this book crosses genres, it’s also a treasure for foodies and history buffs. Food lovers will enjoy the extremely detailed restaurant reviews – Patterson’s writing makes you feel as though you’re tasting all the delicious food yourself. History lovers will enjoy learning more about the rich past of the areas the couple and the cats travel through. I confess that I skipped through some of the history sections, but that didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the book. The only thing I missed was photos – I wish the author had included photos of the cats.
At its heart, Dining and Driving with Cats is a love story: the love story between the author and Alice, the love of the couple for their two cats, and the couple’s love of food.
Dining and Driving with Cats: Alice Unplugged is available from Amazon.
FTC Disclosure: The Conscious Cat is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on Amazon. This means that if you decide to purchase through any of our links, we get a small commission. We only spread the word about products and services we’ve either used or would use ourselves.
I received this book from the author. Receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review. All reviews on The Conscious Cat will always reflect my honest opinion, or, as the case may be, Allegra and Ruby’s honest opinion.
About the author
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
I just ordered it – it won’t be available via Kindle until 6/30.
I couldn’t imagine driving cross country with my cats. It’s stressful enough just going to the vet.
I moved from north idaho. To TN i hot a wire dog crate. Every time we stopped. We put the catz in the cat box that was not in the crate tjey would pee and poor i would return them to the crate .then empty the boxes of the waste. . I worked out okay they got use to it.
This sounds like a really unusual and awesome book!