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"The sun rose slowly, like a fiery furball coughed up uneasily
onto a sky-blue carpet by a giant unseen cat."
Michael McGarel
 |
The Infinite Cat Project
Presented by Mike Stanfill, Private Hand
Illustration, Animation, Web Design
www.privatehand.com
This effervescent "tail" of a Parisian cat is fluffier than
chocolate mousse and bubblier than a split of pink champagne. McLaren
(You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer!) sets the tone with a droll
prefatory rhyme: "To those who speak `La Langue des Fran‡ais'
please don't dismay. My French est mauvais." Having apologized
in advance, she introduces her title feline, a gray stray who "roams
about town, down the Champs Elys‚es, and when the mood strikes
him he dines au caf‚." One day, while trolling for a free
lunch at a fine hotel, the four-legged gourmet happens upon a fashion
show. After his claws snag a model's fuchsia train, he accidentally
shreds Monsieur Pierre's entire collection; a gatefold enables a full-length
view of the savaged runway. Fortunately if predictably, the chic audience
adores the results: "So original, exotic, and free. These ingenious
designs C'est le `Rage' de Paree!" Abundant footnotes translate
such terms as the celebrity cat's new name, Etoile ("ay-TWAL Star").
McLaren, who also works in fashion, complements the funny, frivolous
verse with flamboyant brushstrokes of black ink on a white background.
Etoile charms tuxedoed men and women in stiletto heels, and every designer
frock features extravagant accents. Admirers of Maira Kalman's Max books
(or of Eloise's diction) will appreciate this livre's joie de vivre."