January 15 - "Cat 'N' Mouse"

“Cat ‘N’ Mouse”
by Steven Millhauser
Dangerous Laughter (2008)

* * * (Good) Humor

The mouse and cat are forever trapped in an endless cycle of schemes and violence and mayhem. In the moments between exploding sticks of red dynamite and carefully concocted traps, both mouse and cat ponder a life without the conflicting company of each other’s presence.

This literary cartoon acts as both introduction to a story collection, and my introduction to author Steven Millhauser (Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the short story, “Eisenheim the Illusionist,” which was the basis for the movie, The Illusionist). This story is a lot like the shorts before the Pixar movies, not some throwaway piece of entertainment meant to run in those five minutes as the tardy patrons finally find their seats in the darkening theater. There’s action, laughs, and enjoyment in this setup to the main event. While there is only a thin line of story holding this tale together, it is structured more as flashes of insight than normal narrative. And for its subject matter – essentially a mash-up of the best of Tom and Jerry cartoons – the format succeeds. There is some nice prose displayed, full of entertaining sentences and vivid imagery. At just a bit too long, the story does end in the only way this eternal struggle could end. I’m now more curious where this collection of stories will lead me.