I started my book review blog in 2009 and I have read so many outstanding books that I wanted to share them again with my followers on #SegueSaturday.  I first posted this review in June 2010.  This story interested me because at the time my mother was diagnosed with dementia and my mother loved cats as much as I do.  In fact, until the day my mother died, there was a resident cat in her assisted living facility that stayed with her in her room.  I feel in my heart, the cat helped her find peace.  I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

MY REVIEW

Heartfelt, inspiring, and full of humor and pathos, this book allows readers to take a walk into a world rarely seen from the outside, a world we often misunderstand.

Dr. David Dosa was a non-believer.  He didn’t like cats.  He was a dog person.  Oscar can’t know when a person is dying, he’s just one of several strays that live in a nursing home.  But maybe it’s true…

Oscar not only comforts dying nursing home residents with dementia, but he also touches the lives of the family members who are left behind as well as the staff at the nursing home where he resides.  Dr. Dosa’s book documents his quest to find out about Oscar’s gift by interviewing family members who lost their loved ones on Oscar’s watch.  The book also explains the stages of dementia which is very informative for people who are affected by this debilitating illness.

Thank you to LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers for the opportunity to review this book.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. David Dosa is a geriatrician and an assistant professor of medicine in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.  An essay he wrote for the New England Journal of Medicine was the basis of this book.  Dr. Dosa lives with his family in Barrington, Rhode Island.