I Am a Cat

Publisher: Penguin Random House
Publish date: 2 September 2025
Pages: 208
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English

Subjects: Literature & Fiction, Classics, Genre Fiction, Animals

Discover the original Japanese Cat classic, now in a vibrant new translation by Nick Bradley, author of The Cat and the City.

'I am a Cat. But I still don't have a name...'

Once a stray kitten, I Am a Cat's narrator finds himself adopted by a local scholar and thrown headfirst into the absurd upper middle-class world of Meiji-era Japan. Now a noble but somewhat world-weary observer, he has ample opportunity to dissect the strange ways and convoluted conversations of the human race.

First published at the turn of the 20th century, and regarded as one of Japan's most iconic classics, I Am a Cat is a captivating exploration of identity, society, and the often bewildering nature of the human condition--all seen through the eyes of a very special, uncompromising cat.

'A biting satire of Meiji-era Japan' Jessie Burton, Guardian

'Soseki is the representative modern Japanese novelist, a figure of truly national stature' Haruki Murakami