June 9th, 2026 — Happy publication day to Cat Love (Pantheon) by Tomás Q. Morin (CRF 2023)! The novel is set in Los Angeles and Umbria makes a special appearance.
About the Book
The indelible cat heroine of this unexpected tale recalls her life with “the Mustache,” her beloved owner. Trapped in a one-way mirrored box, displayed in a classroom for people who must contemplate her fate as part of their training to become “Emotional Support Humans,” she weaves a self-soothing paean to the poetry, music, and creature comforts she shared with her Mustache—the best products of a society that has gone off the rails in its violence and intolerance.
The trainees in the room, a motley crew our kitty describes with a novelistic flair of her own, are assigned to consider what they feel about her. They also argue about whether there’s really a cat in there, or are they just being manipulated? Their daily required quizzes are as poignant and witty as our narrator herself. Meanwhile, the mystery of her cat-kidnapping is revealed to us, along with her potential next move on a more spectral plane.
An elegy to freedom, dignity, and connection for all living beings, this slim novel stirs powerful feelings in the reader as it shows us to ourselves from the other side of the mirror.
Praise for the Book
“Clever. . . . Morín’s surprising narrative builds to a thoughtful meditation on the nature of freedom and trust. This quirky tale will stay with readers.” —Publishers Weekly
“Inventive, erudite, funny, and devastating, this debut novel by Morín eschews traditional plot in favor of the illuminating power of the image. . . . A bright, fresh book that is best enjoyed with a record playing in the background and a cat on the reader’s lap.” —Kirkus Reviews
About Tomás
Tomás is the author of the memoirs Let Me Count the Ways, winner of the 2023 Vulgar Genius Nonfiction Award, and Where Are You From: Letters to My Son, as well as the poetry collections Machete, Patient Zero, and A Larger Country. He is coeditor, with Mari L’Esperance, of the anthology Coming Close: Forty Essays on Philip Levine, and a translator of The Heights of Macchu Picchu by Pablo Neruda. He is a fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Tomás kicks off his book tour in Texas on June 11th and 12th at Interabang Books and Bibliobar, in partnership with Second Chance SPCA—shelter cats up for adoption! Learn more and get your copy of the book at penguinrandomhouse.com.