101 Uses for a Dead Cat

101 Uses for a Dead Cat, by Simon Bond (1947–2011),^[1][2] was a bestselling collection of macabre cartoons. The book was promoted with the tag line, "Since time immemorial mankind has been plagued by the question, 'What do you do with a dead cat?'" It consisted of cartoons depicting the bodies of dead cats being used for various purposes, including anchoring boats, sharpening pencils and holding bottles of wine.

101 Uses for a Dead Cat

Original cover
Author	Simon Bond
Genre	Black comedy, Cartoons
Published	1981
Publication place	United States
ISBN	0-517-54516-0

Release and sequels

First published in the UK in 1981 as A Hundred and One Uses for a Dead Cat,^[1] the collection was eventually republished in 20 countries and sold over 2 million copies.^[3] It spawned two sequels, 101 More Uses for a Dead Cat and Uses of a Dead Cat in History, as well as calendars featuring the cartoons and even a book in response called The Cat's Revenge - More Than 101 Uses for Dead People. In 2006, a 25th anniversary edition of A Hundred and One Uses of a Dead Cat was published with a new foreword.^[3]

Reception

By December 7, 1981, it had spent 27 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list.^[4] Its success was considered part of a larger "cat craze" in popular culture, which included the Jim Davis comic strip Garfield, and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats.^[5]

Time called the author and illustrator, Simon Bond, "the Charles Addams of ailurophobia." He received hate mail accusing him of obscenity and sadism.^[4]

American Opinion stated that those who read the book should be "prepared to be disgusted or appalled from time to time".^[6]

• 1980s portal

The book was parodied by British cartoonist Patrick Wright with his book 101 Uses for a John Major, in which the former British Prime Minister was illustrated serving a number of bizarre purposes, such as a train-spotter's anorak or as a flag-pole.^[7][8]

See also

• Earl the Dead Cat — "a flat, understuffed toy cat with X's for eyes" which came "with a humorous death certificate listing all the reasons a dead cat is better than a live one";^[9] produced and sold by the makers of the Croc O' Shirt line of apparel