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Title: Casper the Commuting Cat

Author: Susan Finden

Narrator: Sandra Duncan, Kristopher Milnes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-29-11

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Casper became a national celebrity when newspapers ran the story of the amazing cat that regularly took the No. 3 bus on journeys around his home town, Plymouth, in Devon, South-West England. While his devoted owner Sue Finden had wondered where her elusive pet was disappearing to each day, Casper was brightening the lives of countless commuters. Bus drivers, too, were getting well-acquainted with Casper, and notices went up in their depot alerting staff that a very special passenger might board their vehicle. In fact, he became a mascot for the bus company, and pictures of him and Susan adorned No. 3 buses.

When Casper was sadly killed by a car in early 2010 messages of sympathy flooded in from places as far afield as Australia and Argentina. It quickly became clear that Casper and his remarkable story had touched the lives of many people around the world. Movingly told by the owner who loved him dearly, Casper the Commuting Cat is the touching story of a very special black-and-white cat who rode the bus and stole our hearts.

Members Reviews:

Interesting Cat, Lazy Writing, Misguided Cat Owner

Casper was an interesting cat who would get into line, board buses that stopped near his home, and travel around the town. He also was a regular at the local hospital/clinic, where he would just wander in and mingle with the patients and staff.

This was a pretty frustrating read (listen). This book could potentially have been as good as Dewy, but the main problem is that since Casper's owner didn't witness Casper's adventures herself, she had virtually no knowledge of them, and didn't bother to do the research to interview all the necessary people to really piece together (and tell us about) his adventures. So really the book has about, maybe 1 hour of material on Casper's adventures, and 4 hours of "filler". Not only that but the owner is pretty misguided imo. She was basically a cat hoarder (she had 8 cats at one point), let all of them run wild, moved from house to house (often living near major roads), then blamed the neighbors, local businesses, public traffic authorities, and automobile drivers, when her cats got into trouble. Casper was actually twice hit by cars, and she lost several other cats to traffic as well, yet it never occurred to her to change things.

Anyhow, not sure I can recommend this one. I almost hope that somebody else takes a crack at writing this story, because there is a good story there, but it takes somebody to do the legwork to bring the full story out. Not surprising, Casper's owner wasn't the right person to do this.

Difficult to listen to because of the narrator

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A different narrator.

Any additional comments?

I have not listened to the entire book and as yet I am unsure if I will be able to. The narration is marred for me by the sounds of saliva in the narrators mouth. Over and above the story I hear slurping, bubbling and swallowing which make it almost impossible for me to enjoy listening to this.