Elephi, the Cat with the High I.Q. is a children's book by Jean Stafford published in 1962 by Farrar, Straus & Cudahy.Wilson, 1996 p 163: Selected Bibliography 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).Roberts, 1988 p. 388: "In 1961, without informing Random House, Stafford had signed a contract with Farrar, Straus & Cudahy..."
Stafford received a modest advance of $1000 for the story and a 5 percent royalty. The book was published in September of 1962.Roberts, 1988 p. 388: "...a mere thousand-dollar advance..."
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.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."
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."
Jean Stafford biographer David Roberts calls the work "an utter delight."Roberts, 1988 p. 288
Footnotes
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.