. . . "This is not a gift to be given casually and definitely not as a surprise, but if you live with a writer and you???ve been on the fence on whether or not to get a furry companion, consider this advice on how to be more prolific, from Muriel Spark: ???If you want to concentrate deeply on some problem, and especially some piece of writing or paper-work, you should acquire a cat??? The effect of a cat" .