We'll Prescribe You a Cat

Naruto Komatsu and Natsumi Kuroda perform this award-winning Japanese bestseller with conviction, warmth, and audible appreciation. In five whimsical stories, individual Kyoto residents find their way to a quirky clinic where they are unexpectedly prescribed a cat. Kuroda displays emotional range and witty timing in his performance of two stories. A disheartened accountant finds new purpose when his cat lands him a laboring job, and a middle-aged man learns relevance from his cat. In three stories, Komatsu movingly channels everyone from a fretful schoolgirl and her censorious mother to a sad geisha to a hard-driving businesswoman. As their cats improve their lives, Komatsu shifts her tone and pacing to give full voice to their richer, more hopeful selves. What a heartwarming listen. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

December 6, 2024

Ishida's (Tomato Sensei) English-language debut joins the likes of Mai Mochizuki's The Full Moon Coffee Shop and Hiro Arikawa's The Travelling Cat Chronicles, offering a poignant contribution to Japan's time-honored tradition of feline-centered literature. Down a narrow alley amid Kyoto's labyrinthine streets is the Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul, a most unusual office staffed by odd but amiable Dr. Nikk� and his efficient, prickly nurse Chitose. The clinic materializes in front of those who need it most--people with depression and ennui, and those who are feeling out of place, misunderstood, or lost. In Ishida's five interrelated stories, listeners will encounter several such people, along with the cats prescribed as their therapy. Naruto Komatsu and Natsumi Kuroda narrate, with Komatsu voicing the men patients and Kuroda voicing the women. The narrators' somewhat choppy delivery may not appeal to all, but their facility with the language is a delight. Above all, listeners will be moved by their deft treatment of the characters' emotional transformations, which are infused with gentle warmth. VERDICT Ishida has written a gem that glows with empathy and goodwill. For animal lovers and those seeking uplifting stories about stepping outside one's comfort zone and discovering inner strength.--Sarah Hashimoto

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