Henry Slesar's offbeat, unsettling tale introduces Etienne Dauphin, a cultivated young man raised in a household unlike any other: his mother is a refined Frenchwoman, and his father is a large, intelligent cat named Dauphin. Shaped by old-world manners, literature, and a touch of feline grace, Etienne travels to America, where he falls in love with the lively Joanna and brings her home to meet his mysterious parent. What follows is a deliciously tense comedy of manners, where romance, satire, and fantasy collide around a secret that could upend everything. At once witty and strange, the story explores inheritance, identity, love, and the uneasy meeting of civilized expectations with the impossible. Slesar's rising reputation as a sharp, unusual writer gives the piece an extra edge, making this a memorable, surreal fable about the young men we think we know—and the family truths they may be hiding. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.