Bob Tarte

how Frannie and five other incorrigible cats seized control of our house and made it their home

Kitty cornered

The book that Entertainment Weekly called "hilarious," Publishers Weekly declared "a true pleasure," Booklist called "heartwarming," and the Dallas Morning News praised as "rich and funny" is now available in paperback. When Bob Tarte bought a house in rural Michigan, he was counting on a tranquil haven. Then Bob married Linda. She wanted a rabbit, which seemed innocuous enough until the bunny chewed through their electrical wiring. And that was just the beginning. Before long, Bob found himself constructing cages, buying feed, clearing duck waste, and spoon-feeding a menagerie of furry and feathery residents. His life of quiet serenity vanished, and he unwittingly became a servant to a relentlessly demanding family. "They dumbfounded him, controlled and teased him, took their share of his flesh, stole his heart" (Kirkus Reviews). Whether commiserating with Bob over the fate of those who are slaves to their animals or regarding his story as a cautionary tale about the rigors of animal ownership, readers on both sides of the fence have found Tarte's story of his chaotic squawking household irresistible--and irresistibly funny.

Enslaved by Ducks

A reflection on the unexpected benefits of living with an exuberant menagerie of thirty-nine animals--including parrots, ducks, geese, parakeets, rabbits, cats, hens, a dove, and a turkey--describes how these diverse animals provide the spiritual anchor in the author's life.

Fowl weather

From the author of Fowl Weather comes “a laugh-out-loud chronicle” of household pets who slowly but surely overrun the house (Marty Becker, DVM, Good Morning America). When Bob Tarte and his wife Linda brought a rabbit into their rural Michigan home, they didn’t anticipate how it might upset their tranquil lives. But even after the bunny chewed through their electrical wiring, their household menagerie kept growing. Soon, Bob found himself constructing cages, buying feed, clearing duck waste, and spoon-feeding an assortment of furry and feathery residents. He unwittingly became a servant to a relentlessly demanding family. “They dumbfounded him, controlled and teased him, took their share of his flesh, [and] stole his heart” (Kirkus Reviews). In this loving memoir of the joy and madness of living with animals, Bob offers “dead-on character portraits, [and] keeps readers laughing about unreliable pet store proprietors, a duck named Hector who doesn’t like water, an amorous dove named Howard, a foster-mother goose, patient veterinarians and increasingly bewildered friends” (Publishers Weekly).

How One Man Went from Head of the Household to Bottom of the Pecking Order

Bob Tarte had his first encounter with a cat when he was two and a half years old. He should have learned his lesson then, from Fluffy. But as he says, “I listened to my heart instead, and that always leads to trouble.” In this tell-all of how the Tarte household grew from one recalcitrant cat to six—including a hard-to-manage stray named Frannie—Tarte confesses to allowing these interlopers to shape his and his wife’s life, from their dining habits to their sleeping arrangements to the placement and furriness of their furniture. But more than that, Bob begins seeing Frannie and the other cats as unlikely instructors in the art of achieving contentment, even in the face of illness and injury. Bewitched by the unknowable nature of domesticated cats, he realizes that sometimes wildness and mystery are exactly what he needs. With the winning humor and uncanny ability to capture the soul of the animal world that made Enslaved by Ducks a success, Tarte shows us that life with animals gives us a way out of our narrow human perspective to glimpse something larger, more enduring, and more grounded in the simplicities of love—and catnip.

Bob Tarte

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