111 Book Review: At the Sign of the Cat and Racket

Bryce W. Merkl Sasaki
Eleventy-One
Published in
2 min readMay 27, 2021
Eleventy-One Book Review of At the Sign of the Cat and Racket by Honoré de Balzac
I don’t know, feels kinda like Balzac just stole Tolkien’s book cover aesthetic. Am I the only one?

At the Sign of the Cat and Racket (La Maison du chat-qui-pelote)

by Honoré de Balzac

That’s right, y’all. I advocate dirty books: we’re doing Balzac!

At the Sign of the Cat and Racket (or La Maison du chat-qui-pelote, if you’re nasty) is one of those titles that implies a zany game of cat tennis, cat badminton, cat racquetball, cat squash, or literally any other racket-based sport being played by at least one cat. Alas, such hopes will be dashed (sorry, spoilers!).

The actual story is of two marriages — one romantic and one down-to-earth — pinned between art and industry. It’s subtle, but it’s a kicker. Makes sense why Balzac chose this story as the opening installment of his Human Comedy literary universe. It’s basically Iron Man, but in Paris.

TL;DR: Cupid runs out of arrows in this one, but also Cupid is the worst. Also, there’s a hullabaloo over a painting.

Rating: 8 out of 11 Racket-Holding Cats

Get it here:

Oh, you liked it? Well, then, try: Anna Karenina (for the subtle shades of love), Romeo & Juliet (for the less-subtle shades of love)

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