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Published Jul 2013
288 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
James is a street musician struggling to make ends meet.
Bob is a stray cat looking for somewhere warm to sleep.
When James and Bob meet, they forge a never-to-be-forgotten friendship that has been charming readers from Thailand to Turkey.
A Street Cat Named Bob is an international sensation, landing on the bestseller list in England for 52 consecutive weeks and selling in 26 countries around the world. Now, James and Bob are ready to share their true story with the U.S. in this tale unlike any you've ever read of a cat who possesses some kind of magic.
When street musician James Bowen found an injured cat curled up in the hallway of his apartment building, he had no idea how much his life was about to change. James was living hand to mouth on the streets of London, barely making enough money to feed himself, and the last thing he needed was a pet. Yet James couldn't resist helping the strikingly intelligent but very sick animal, whom he named Bob. He slowly nursed Bob back to health and then sent the cat on his way, imagining that he would never see him again. But Bob had other ideas.
Perfect for fans of Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog and Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat That Changed the World, this instant classic about the power of love between man and animal has taken the world by storm and is guaranteed to be a huge hit with American fans as well.
"Starred Review. Stellar...A beautiful, never maudlin story of second chances for both man and beast and a poignant testimony to how much caring for someone - or some feline - can give you renewed direction where you're down and out. Understandably, this was a best-seller in England." - Booklist
"Given Bowen's inherent decency, he might well have turned things around even without his feline friend, but he convincingly makes the case that Bob was the cat-alyst." - Publishers Weekly
"A rich, moving story of the link between astreet-wise cat and a man who earns his living on the streets - perfect for cat lovers." - Kirkus
"Move over, Marley. A stray cat from north London could be heading for the lap of luxury as the cinema's next box office pet sensation." - The Times (UK)
"A simple, sweet and ridiculously heartwarming story." - The Huffington Post
"A book with the strong ingredients that made Marley and Me and Dewey big successes…A warm and poignant memoir." - The Guardian (UK)
"An instantly bestselling memoir that, besides its heartwarming tale of their friendship, offers an insight into the injustice of life on the streets." - The Times (UK)
"Fans ... queued around the block at James and Bob's first signing. The purrfectly behaved Bob signed an impressive 180 books in just two hours." - Bookseller (UK)
This information about A Street Cat Named Bob was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
James Bowen was a street musician in London who found Bob the Cat in spring 2007 and the pair, now famous around the world, has been inseparable ever since. As their book climbed bestseller lists in many countries and their fame skyrocketed, Bob began to receive hand-knitted scarves from all over the world. He can do a great high five and remains a modest fellow despite the glory that has been heaped upon him.
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