Sample Translation Available

Just in time for the Olympic Games comes this whimsical tale that will appeal to lovers of literature, philosophy, and cats alike. Americans say that cats have nine lives. The Greeks claim their cats have seven souls, as does the Committee for the Defense of the Seven Souls, a band of crusading citizens convinced that the most famous philosophers from Antiquity were reincarnated as Athenian alley cats. The Committee, twenty or so elderly ladies led by the charismatic Mr. Dimitracopoulos, tries to prevent the Athenian authorities from doing away with the city’s alley cats before the 2004 Olympic Games. Because of the upcoming competition, and the resulting effort to clean up the city, Athens’ alley cats, and indeed some of history’s greatest philosophical minds, are in grave danger. Their one chance lies in the efforts of Dimitracopoulos’s team, which organizes protests, sit-ins, and various other acts of civil disobedience, all the while emphasizing the alley cats’ vital role in past and present Greek culture. The adventure brings to light the delightful eccentricities of the quirky members, sprinkling in bits of ancient philosophy along the way, and culminating in the final showdown among the cats, the Committee, and the Athenian police. The appendix consists of twenty-eight charming portraits of the most prominent alley cats and their accompanying philosophers’ souls.