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Cat's Eye  By  cover art

Cat's Eye

By: Margaret Atwood
Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
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Editorial reviews

The modern battle against bullying is hard to miss: From anti-cyberbulling PSAs to state laws that target bullies, parents and administrators are more involved than ever in helping kids fight back. But in 1989 when Margaret Atwood published Cat's Eye, books that dived so deeply into the world of girl-on-girl bullying were few and far between. Narrator Kimberly Farr turns the story into a haunting tale of the lifelong consequences that can follow you from childhood - made all the more chilling from a modern point of view.

The story is told from the perspective of Elaine Risley, a Canadian painter who returns to her hometown for a show of her work. The activities surrounding the show frame her slowly returning memories of her childhood, and the three girls she used to pal around with. Now, we’d call these girls frenemies. Led by a girl named Cordelia, the trio teases, taunts, and hazes young Elaine even as she tries to stay on their good side. By high school, Elaine has broken away from the group, but the emotional affects of the friendships follow her through art school, adulthood, and into her romantic relationships.

Farr takes the character of Elaine from elementary school-age outcast to resigned adult, weaving in distinct voices for other characters - Elaine's adult friends, her lovers, her family - as Elaine tries to move past the memories of Cordelia. As a girl making a faux pas at another family's Sunday Dinner, as a teen who jokes with her brother while they're drying the dishes, as an art student sleeping with the teacher, and as a middle-aged painter reflecting on her life, Farr gives the story personality, charm, and the right mix of nostalgia and fuzzy memories. Elaine's straightforward, accepting description of the way her friends treated her will draw up your own memories of facing down the mean girls at your school - and remind you how far you've come. --Blythe Copeland

Publisher's summary

A breathtaking novel of a woman grappling with the tangled knot of her lifefrom the bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments

Disturbing, humorous, and compassionate, Cat’s Eye is the story of Elaine Risley, a controversial painter who returns to Toronto, the city of her youth, for a retrospective of her art. Engulfed by vivid images of the past, she reminisces about a trio of girls who initiated her into the the fierce politics of childhood and its secret world of friendship, longing, and betrayal. Elaine must come to terms with her own identity as a daughter, a lover, an artist, and a woman—but above all she must seek release form her haunting memories.

©1989 Margaret Atwood (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

1989, Booker Prize, Nominated

"Stunning...Atwood conceives Elaine with a poet's transforming fire; and delivers her to us that way, a flame inside an icicle." (Los Angeles Times)

"Nightmarish, evocative, heartbreaking." (The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about Cat's Eye

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Excellent

I really feel the need to leave this review because the only other Audible reviewer colorfully describes how the narrator ruined the book, and I almost didn't get it because of that.

I'm so glad I decided to give it a chance anyway. I've listened to at least 100 audiobooks and I really found no problem with this narrator. I thought her voice and reading were perfectly appropriate for the character. I hadn't read the book before so I did not have a preconceived notion of what she was supposed to sound like, but either way, I did not find the narrator at all robotic or over-acting.

As for the story - yes, it is wonderful. All in all, this audiobook was a very enjoyable experience.

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49 people found this helpful

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Great book for those with memories

One of the best studies of where melancholy aloofness is born. The eternal simmering of childhood injustices tempered by quiet self sufficiency is where the broad and weary weariness is born. Knowing all that you know, can you trust others, can you forgive them. Can you grow to cherish them. Can you tell them this?

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16 people found this helpful

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Narrator ruined this audiobook

I have read this book at least four times, and have loved it more each time. The book is funny, beautiful, intelligent, and heartbreaking.

Whoever chose this narrator needs to have their head examined. Kimberly Farr is perhaps the WORST narrator I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. I was immediately annoyed by her over-enunciating robotic voice, and her over-acting. I am horribly disappointed that Ms. Farr has ruined all the joy I was anticipating in listening to this marvelous book. Simply ghastly!

Do yourself a favor. Read the book instead.

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16 people found this helpful

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Glorious!

No matter who you are, whether your childhood was a glory or a nightmare, no matter what your age today, you may find you are changed when this story steals your heart.

This novel is loved by many, and we all have our preferences and memories around it, but I must say that I can't understand the criticism given to Kimberly Farr's reading. Ms. Farr is the very person to read Elaine. Her voice is both young and old, and she conveys emotion with its nuances, rather than with "acting". Her performance enhanced the story for me.

Jay Thomas

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Heart opening

This book is a must read for any woman who ever grew up in the western world, especially in a suburban setting. It's a true and very touching catharsis about the cruelty of women towards each other and the heartbreak behind such cruelty. I will definitely be reading this again.

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12 people found this helpful

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Another great one!

I have never been disappointed by Margaret Atwood! Cat's Eye is no exception. This story is the narrator's retelling (reminiscing) about her life interspersed with present time. I loved the journey she shared, parts poignant, parts funny, parts tug at the heart.

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  • TH
  • 09-20-16

Girls Are Mean- At All Ages

What made the experience of listening to Cat's Eye the most enjoyable?

I thought about my own childhood bullies, and where we are all in our lives now. Karma may not always be swift, but she is indeed a just lady.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Elaine's mother- she was adaptable and aware.

Which character – as performed by Kimberly Farr – was your favorite?

Elaine- she was flighty, scattered, and awkward....very much the way I perceive myself.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It rang true to me from many life experiences. There are so many people who will be unkind to us, judge us, belittle us, be cruel to us...and we must find our ways to cope and to survive.

Any additional comments?

I loved the descriptions of Elaine's art, though I wish she'd also depicted Grace, her true bully.

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8 people found this helpful

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a favorite since forever

An observational, often funny, often moving story of a woman returning to her hometown of Toronto as an adult, remembering the experiences that led her to where she is.

Want to know how malicious girls can be? Cat's Eye nails it on the head. It gets me right in the feels every time.

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5 people found this helpful

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Loved it!

Where does Cat's Eye rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's one of the best audiobooks I've listened to. The narrator does a really amazing job. She captures the voice of the main character perfectly, both as a child and as an adult. The whole story is told in a beautiful manner.

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Thinking Back

Vintage Margaret Atwood. I'm nearing this juncture in my own life, so the "thinkback" motif hit very close to home. Performance a little tight.

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