Homer’s Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat by Gwen Cooper | Book Review

Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat, by Gwen Cooper
Genres: Animals, Memoir, Non-Fiction
Original Publication Date: 2009
Source: I purchased this book
Goodreads
Find the Author: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon

Homer’s odyssey: Gwen Cooper’s veterinarian called her about a three-week-old eyeless kitten who’d been abandoned. It was love at first sight. Everyone warned that Homer would always be an “underachiever.” But the kitten nobody believed in quickly grew into a three-pound dynamo with a giant heart who eagerly made friends with every human who crossed his path. But it was Homer’s unswerving loyalty, his infinite capacity for love, and his joy in the face of all obstacles that transformed Gwen’s life. She realized that Homer had taught her the most valuable lesson of all: Love isn’t something you see with your eyes.

Homer was a blind Greek poet who wrote great epic poems, including The Odyssey. That great work concerns the hero’s return home after the fall of Troy.

The feline hero of Gwen Cooper’s memoir Homer’s Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat, is a blind kitten.

He is brought to a veterinarian’s office with a very bad eye infection. His eyes are removed, and they set about finding him a forever home.

Homer Is A Blind Cat Who Needs A Home

Enter Gwen Cooper, who already has taken in two stray cats.

Gwen is smitten with the kitten, not so much because he is blind but because he has such a courageous spirit.

He comes into her life at just the right time, after a breakup with her long-time boyfriend.

As Cooper says:

I adopted him because when you think you see something so fundamentally worthwhile in someone else, you don’t look for the reasons – like bad timing or a negative bank balance – that might keep it out of your life. You commit to being strong enough to build your life around it, no matter what. In doing so, you begin to become the thing you admire.

The blind kitten is full of spunk and character. He defends Gwen against an intruder who breaks into her home.

The intruder turned and ran. Homer, his tail still bolt upright, leapt from the bed and raced after him.

Along with her other two cats, he survives for several days after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, after Cooper is unable to return to her apartment near the World Trade Center.

She is finally able to get to her cats and Homer responds:

He covered the distance between us in two bounds and leapt at me, hurling himself at the center of my chest with a force that almost knocked me down.

The cat is utterly lovable. He leaps tall bookcases, hangs from curtains, and shoves tuna cans out of the kitchen cabinet.

He loves life with a joyous innocence. It is very easy to fall in love with him! Everything he does takes a leap of faith.

There is a lovely promotional video that includes both Homer and Gwen Cooper! Homer is his spunky self in this video!

Final Analysis

Gwen Cooper is a very talented writer. The book is cleverly put together, with quotes from The Odyssey heading each chapter.

Cooper writes about how Homer gave her the courage to move to New York when she was almost 30 years old.  Homer’s influence also changed how she viewed her relationships with men.

Even if you aren’t as crazy about cats as I am, you will absolutely love Homer. He is unforgettable.

To find out more about Gwen Cooper, you can read her website.

If you liked this post, please read my review of Gwen Cooper’s novel, Love Saves The Day, which is about a cat sharing her love with a human.

Please also read my review of The Cat Who Came For Christmas by Cleveland Amory.

Thank you for reading The Literary Lioness!