Review: The Cat That Ate a Thousand Bananas by Hank Mancini

Musings and delightful vignettes, served with a healthy dose of humor, form the basis for The Cat That Ate a Thousand Bananas: Musings of a Nerd by Hank Mancini.

Without a doubt, Mancini’s title immediately draws in the reader, though the book has nothing to do with a cat that has a penchant for eating lots of bananas, which speaks to the book’s looseness and fun sense of whimsy. Part memoir and part musings, Mancini admits that the stories he tells are about events in his life that he hopes his family will find funny – though that is not to say there isn’t a universality to these tales. With two former wives, one current wife, six kids and several grandchildren, it’s clear that Mancini has led a full and productive life that has all the makings of a rich tapestry woven with equal parts Norman Rockwell Americana and Southern California cool.

With colorful chapter titles like “Crumb Cake Marinara,” “Swallowing a Stick,” “Picking Up Girls,” “A Package of Napkins” and “He Took Us to a Dump,” each curated story has relevance to a period in the author’s life, offering readers humor and, at times, introspection into the choices he has made – some of which were good, others not so much – with each instance having an impact on Mancini and the man he would become. He demonstrates how an argument can start with a spouse over the most trivial of things like the direction being traveled, the joy of finding a treasure in the trash, and the stress of coping with a loved one’s illness.

Mancini characterizes his book as the musings of a nerd, yet writing a book of this kind requires a certain amount of bravery to look at one’s life with unflinching honesty and recognize one’s foibles and brilliant moments, as well as broaching these topics without offending ones loved ones or boring one’s readers with the potential mundanities of life. Here, the author has managed to create an appealing book that is sure to resonate with a broad swath of readers, even if stories are intensely personal, given his genuine insight and authenticity.

From a mischievous schoolboy to a Mormon missionary stationed in Japan, each story offers a unique perspective on a lifetime of experiences – some of which everyone has experienced, and many which are wholly unique to the author. For a book merely intended to entertain his family, Mancini’s memoir nevertheless manages to teach us some timeless life lessons, such as the importance of hard work, making tough choices, friendship, and the value of giving back. No matter how deep he digs into the minutiae of everyday life, the stories are impactful, transformative, and in some cases, downright hilarious, with the pages sprinkled with photographs provided by the author throughout the years.

All in all, The Cat That Ate a Thousand Bananas is a charming memoir full of quiet wisdom and an inspiring spirit that will have readers yearning for an era gone by when everyone went to the drive-in to see a movie and when drugstores had soda fountains.