Caleb Carr News

Several new interviews and reviews have been released in the lead up to the publication of Caleb Carr’s new memoir My Beloved Monster on April 16. Perhaps most revealing was a pre-recorded interview Caleb gave to CBS Saturday Morning, offering in-depth insight into the writing of the memoir and his special relationship with Masha, along with sobering news about the current state of his health. The segment can be viewed below:

In addition, he gave an interview with Scott Simon on NPR about the memoir that you can read the transcript of or listen to here.

The book has also garnered several wonderful reviews. Chris Bohjalian in the Washington Post described the book as a “warm, wrenching love story,” concluding:

Like all good memoirs — and this is an excellent one — “My Beloved Monster” is not always for the faint of heart. Because life is not for the faint of heart. But it is worth the emotional investment, and the tissues you will need by the end, to spend time with a writer and cat duo as extraordinary as Masha and Carr.

Alexandra Jacobs of The New York Times similarly framed the memoir as “loving and lovely, lay-it-all-on-the-line explication of one man’s fierce attachment,” while a Booklist review called it “a love story of the best, most ethereal kind.” Publisher’s Weekly also praised the book as “lively and moving….even readers without their own furry friend will be moved.”

Caleb said in the CBS interview that for the latter years of Masha’s life, he would look at her and say, “Some day, I’m going to make you famous.” With My Beloved Monster currently trending #1 in memoirs and author biographies on Amazon, it certainly looks as though his promise is coming true. I’m sure many of Caleb’s loyal readers will be looking forward to meeting Masha and learning about the bond she and Caleb shared when the memoir is released on Tuesday — and, of course, wish him peace and strength as he fights his current health battle.

Thanks to a helpful visitor to the site, I have been informed that a new Caleb Carr book has recently been announced. A personal memoir, My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat who Rescued Me, is set for publication on April 16, 2024 by Little, Brown and Company. The blurb released on the publisher’s website can be found below:

The #1 bestselling author of The Alienist, Caleb Carr, tells the extraordinary story of Masha, a half-wild rescue cat who fought off a bear, tackled Caleb like a linebacker—and bonded with him as tightly as any cat and human possibly can.

Caleb Carr has had special relationships with cats since he was a young boy in a turbulent household, famously peopled by the founding members of the Beat Generation, where his steadiest companions were the adopted cats that lived with him both in the city and the country. As an adult, he has had many close feline companions, with relationships that have outlasted most of his human ones. But only after building a three-story home in rural, upstate New York did he enter into the most extraordinary of all of his cat pairings: Masha, a Siberian Forest cat who had been abandoned as a kitten, and was languishing in a shelter when Caleb met her. She had hissed and fought off all previous carers and potential adopters, but somehow, she chose Caleb as her savior.

For the seventeen years that followed, Caleb and Masha were inseparable. Masha ruled the house and the extensive, dangerous surrounding fields and forests. When she was hurt, only Caleb could help her. When he suffered long-standing physical ailments, Masha knew what to do. Caleb’s life-long study of the literature of cat behavior, and his years of experience with previous cats, helped him decode much of Masha’s inner life. But their bond went far beyond academic studies and experience. The story of Caleb and Masha is an inspiring and life-affirming relationship for readers of all backgrounds and interests—a love story like no other.

Though it may not be the Alienist novel some fans might have been expecting, I’m sure this heartfelt work will still be appreciated by the animal lovers among Caleb’s readership. The memoir is available for pre-order on Amazon and other retailers now.