Elephi: The Cat with the High I.Q.
 First edition | |
| Author | Jean Stafford |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Erik Blegvad |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus & Cudahy |
| Publication date | September 1962 |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 77 |
| OCLC | 41806618 |
Elephi, the Cat with the High I.Q. is a children's book by Jean Stafford published in 1962 by Farrar, Straus & Cudahy.[1] A paperback version was issued in 1962 by Dover Publications.
Plot
Publication background
Elephi, the Cat with the High I.Q. was written for publisher Farrar, Straus & Cudahy and unbeknownst to Random House, who had previously contracted Stafford to produce a major work of fiction: a sequel to her novel Boston Adventure (1944).[2]
Stafford received a modest advance of $1000 for the story and a 5 percent royalty. The book was published in September of 1962.[3]
Elephi, the Cat with the High I.Q. sold fewer than three thousand copies. Stafford declined to write a sequel to the book when she found the advance offer unsatisfactory.[4]
Retrospective appraisal
Reviewers at Cosmic Dream Farm highly recommend the book: "What an absolutely captivating, comical and clever story written by a woman who obviously was intimate with cat psychology. If you love cats, you will love this book."[5]
Jean Stafford biographer David Roberts calls the work "an utter delight."[6]
Footnotes
- ↑ Wilson, 1996 p 163: Selected Bibliography
- ↑ Roberts, 1988 p. 388: "In 1961, without informing Random House, Stafford had signed a contract with Farrar, Straus & Cudahy..."
- ↑ Roberts, 1988 p. 388: "...a mere thousand-dollar advance..."
- ↑ Roberts, 1988 p. 388: "Stafford came close to signing a contract for an Elephi sequel, but she was not able to get the advance she wanted."
- ↑ "Elephi: The Cat With the High I. Q." Cosmic Dream Farm/Laughing Crow. 2024.
- ↑ Roberts, 1988 p. 288
Sources
- Roberts, David. "Jean & Joe: The Stafford-Liebling Marriage". The American Scholar, Summer 1988, Vol. 57, No. 3 , pp. 373-391 The Phi Beta Kappa Society. Accessed February 23, 2026.
- Stafford, Jean. 1962. Elephi, the Cat with the High I.Q. Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, New York.
- Wilson, Mary Ann. 1996. Jean Stafford: A Study of the Short Fiction. Twayne Publishers. Simon & Schuster, New York. ISBN 0-8057-7807-1