OPEN A BOOK,OPEN THE WORLD
𝙋𝙤𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙎𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙚 by Courtney Gustafson
《詩人廣場的貓》回憶錄
作者寇特妮・古斯塔夫森（Courtney Gustafson）搬進位於詩人廣場（Poets Square）的一間出租房時，她完全不知道，這棟房子竟然「附贈」了三十隻流浪野貓。
當時的她光是努力讓自己活下去就已經筋疲力盡，面對一段新的感情、一場疫情、糟糕的心理健康狀況，以及一份收入不足以維生的工作，她實在不願意再花自己的時間和金錢去照顧這些無家可歸的動物。
然而，那些貓咪懇求的眼神、瘦骨如柴的身體，以及在車道上一窩接著一窩出生的幼貓，讓她別無選擇。
她從未想過動物救援竟伴隨著如此沉重的悲傷與艱辛，也不知道全國各地社區中流浪動物問題竟然如此龐大。更想不到，這場關於照護倫理的掙扎，關於個體如何在一個失靈的體制中，仍竭盡所能地彼此照顧，竟會幫助她穿透困擾自己大半人生的內心黑暗。她也沒料到，自己為了分享這些野性卻惹人喜愛的貓咪而創立的 TikTok 和 Instagram 帳號，最後竟然拯救了她的家。
Courtney以一種追尋人與萬物連結的視角書寫，描繪照顧這群貓如何重新塑造她對同理心、韌性，以及全心投入一件超越自我的事物所蘊含療癒力量的理解。她帶領讀者走進她餵養流浪貓的昏暗巷弄，踏入那些因長期疏於照料而令人心碎的住家，翻越堆積如山的垃圾（偶爾還有動物）最後回到她自己的車道，與那些她深愛、卻有時不得不放手的貓咪相伴。
《Poets Square》扣人心弦而溫柔動人。這不只是一本關於貓的書，更是一部探討照護、社群，以及一點點傻氣卻珍貴希望的作品，提醒我們：在一個充滿缺失的世界裡，關心彼此依然迫切而重要。
When Courtney Gustafson moved into a rental house in the Poets Square neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, she didn’t know that the property came with thirty feral cats. Focused only on her own survival—in a new relationship, during a pandemic, with poor mental health and a job that didn’t pay enough—Courtney was reluctant to spend any of her own time or money caring for the wayward animals.
But the cats—their pleading eyes, their ribs showing, the new kittens born in the driveway—didn’t give her a choice.
She had no idea about the grief and hardship of animal rescue, the staggering size of the problem in neighborhoods across the country. And she couldn’t have imagined how that struggle—toward an ethics of care, of individuals trying their best amid spectacularly failing systems—would help pierce a personal darkness she’d wrestled with for much of her life. She also didn’t expect that the TikTok and Instagram accounts she created to share the quirky personalities of the wild but lovable cats, like Monkey, Goldie, Francois, and Sad Boy, would end up saving her home.
Courtney writes toward a vision of connectedness, showing how taking care of the cats reshaped her understanding of empathy, resilience, and the healing power of wholly showing up for something outside yourself. She takes us from the dark alleys where she feeds feral cats to inside the tragically neglected homes where she climbs over piles of trash, and occasionally animals, and then into her own driveway with the cats she loves and must sometimes let go. Compelling and tender, Poets Square is as much about cats as it is about the urgency of care, community, and a little bit of dumb hope.
