Definite classes of cat exist on the Cycladic Islands: there are the true rogue cats--scavenging for food, unkempt, with a missing piece of ear or two--and then there are the more privileged class members, regularly fed by Islanders and allowed the honor of a doorstep on which to perch (but still denied entrance into the home). The individualism of each cat is evident in every portrait--a mother nurturing her brood of kittens, a cat frolicking in the gentle swill of a wave, a cat peeping through a paint-peeled window frame. Cats in the Sun is an astonishing collection of photographs that captures the true spirit of the beloved feline.

Product Description
Praised by The Atlantic Monthly as " ... the finest pictures ever taken of cats," Cats in the Sun is now available in a stunning paperback edition. An international favorite since its original hardcover publication in Spring 1994, this spectacular collection of enthralling, full-color photographs portrays an array of serendipitous and thoroughly charming cats against a backdrop of the beautiful Greek Isles. Combining the romantic beauty of the Mediterranean and the delightful behavior of felines, Cats in the Sun will appeal to cat lovers, travelers, and photographers alike.

However, when I first became aware of his books about the cats and dogs, I was thoroughly dismayed by his choice of subject matter and the way he has chosen to portray the lives of these creatures as idyllic and carefree.

Having been to these Greek islands, I have learned firsthand that the large majority of these poor animals are ignored, injured, or mistreated by people there-anything but "respected." The photographer has omitted portraits of the true conditions for most of the stray dogs and cats in Greece-crippled, starving, dying of thirst, hurt or maimed, with the humans around them barely taking notice.

The full horror of the story was revealed to me by locals on the islands. Each year, the cats & dogs are allowed to breed uncontrolled, because tourists are fond of seeing the cute animals around and on the beaches. At the end of each tourist season, as many of them as possible are rounded up and killed (I couldn't bear to learn how), until the following year when the ones that wurvived begin the cycle all over again. I found this same story on all the islands I visited, including Mykonos, and I was so appalled that I shortened my stay and left Greece altogether.

The situation is a tragedy, and my feeling, as a photographer and animal lover, is that Mr. Silvester should not be misrepresenting the condition of the cats and dogs on these Greek islands, especially when it is for monetary gain. I hope animal lovers around the world will agree, and send a message to anyone who profits in any way from the suffering of these dogs and cats in the sun.


Two sides to every story   October 25, 2000
 12 out of 14 found this review helpful

This is a lovely coffee table book, celebrating feline beauty in many forms, set in the incomparable beauty of Greece. Hans Silvester's photographs are captivating but only tell part of the story of Greece's cats. They are an integral part of Greece's landscape but their lives are not always beautiful. They are also tales of neglect, disease and cruelty. Anybody who photographs Greece's cats for profit should maybe consider donating some proceeds to their welfare. As much as I enjoyed looking at the photographs, I was uncomfortably aware of the other side of the story, having lived in the region for many years. The book was censorship - a bit like going to Ethiopia and only taking pictures of well-fed children.


Reduced to reviewing coffee table books   January 26, 2001
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

My wife and I are the pets of two calico felines, Tessa and Trouble. Knowing that we're cat people, friends tend to give us gifts with that relationship in mind. I wish they or we would snap out of it, because some of the Stuff, while well meant, is way too cute or too tacky, or both. (Instead, Amazon gift certificates are always welcome - hint, hint!) However, one offering, CATS IN THE SUN, was well received, and is much appreciated.

This is a coffee table tome with five pages of introductory text. Then, on each of the following 137, not a solitary word is printed, but rather a single, rich, 5.5 X 8.25-inch color photograph. The images were all taken by Hans Silvester on the sun drenched Greek islands of Mykonos, Milos and Naxos, where large populations of domestic cats run semi-wild. While the islands' inhabitants allow none indoors, the animals are tolerated, and sometimes actively cared for, with a detached affection. In return, the rodent populations are suppressed with a vengeance.

Too many books and calendars featuring kitty pictures are cloyingly cute, usually because they tend to emphasize kittens. Refreshingly, this book is not. It features cats, both kittens and adults, in unstaged, natural situations. Cats on streets, steps, rooftops, harbor quays, walls, tree limbs, rocks, chairs, ledges and pathways. Cats sleeping, lounging, climbing, washing, eating, hunting, leaping, courting, fighting, carousing, watching, sitting, exploring, running and walking. Cats alone. Cats in pairs. Cats in groups. Rarely, cats with people or dogs. Short and long-haired cats, in all sizes, colorations and fur patterns. I think Silvester burned through a lot of film.

Among all the glorious pigments, textures, patterns, sunbeams and shadows, I have two favorite images. One, a group of seven cats, all with tails raised and end-curled, walking along with a local codger who is carrying something edible in a plastic sack. (I know it's edible, because that's what our owners look like at six in the morning as I carry the can of TigerChow to the opener.) The other, a cat standing on its hind legs, inquisitively peering into the lower end of a roof's downspout. Then, there are those two curious photos, one of a man painting the base of a wall, the other of some sun-dappled steps, in which no cat is visible at all. Am I (not) seeing the local Cheshire Cat?

I consider most coffee table books as useful as Christmas fruitcakes. (You know, the ones with those hateful little green bits.) However, if you like cats, then CATS IN THE SUN is worth savoring.


Let's stick to rating books!   July 31, 2001
 6 out of 9 found this review helpful

Amazon.com does a great job in giving us such a variety to choose from. The rating system is there to help us make up our minds on whether to buy something or not. It is not for writing our own expiriences and maybe giving out a wrong immpression about a whole country. As a Greek-American living in Greece, I can assure everybody that Greeks love their strays and take care of them by feeding them, providing water, and petting them. They do let them live free and as nature wanted them. Of course, there are exceptions here, as there are eveywhere. Please, it is just not correct or polite to make such a statement about another country in a place like this. Let's just enjoy rating our nice stuff we just bought from Amazon.com


Unsentimental and exquisite   September 19, 2000
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Silvester's photographs capture the essential beauty and character of these cats. He does nothing to sentimentalize them or make them "cute". If you like cats for what they are as opposed to over-groomed and posed in baskets and such, you will love these photographs.