CAT’S PERSPECTIVE

Dr. Michael Gordon has a new twist on storytelling. His first book, “Autobiography of a Georgia Cat,” is narrated not by the author, but by his cat Black Jack.

From a cat’s eye view, the author talks about life at large in Marietta. Black Jack adds levity to the book’s deeper themes of spirituality, loss, grief, and addiction.

The cat’s tale of life with an African-American family has a subplot that mirrors Gordon’s own life. The story relates a family’s struggles with the illness and death of a granddaughter who is married to a Jewish man.

Gordon, a specialist in addiction medicine at Ridgeview Institute in Smyrna, decided to write his book after his wife, Gena Browder Gordon, died of cancer. He started the book as a journal to deal with his grief and healing.