Street Cat Named Bob (Bowen)

A Street Cat Named Bob:  And How He Saved My Life
James Bowen, 2012
St. Martin's Press
279 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250029461


Summary
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 and Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat, 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. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth— March 15, 1979
• Where—Surrey, England, UK
• Education—N/A
• Currently—lives in London, England


James Bowen is an author and busker currently based in London. James was interviewed by journalist Garry Jenkins, resulting in him writing the 2012 autobiography, A Street Cat Named Bob. The title is a play on the title of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.

Early life
James Bowen was born in Surrey, England, in 1979. Following his parents’ divorce, he moved to Australia with his mother and stepfather. Home life was tense and, because the family moved frequently, James was unsettled at school. He was frequently bullied, and began sniffing glue while still in education, becoming a self-confessed “tearaway kid” who would later be diagnosed with ADHD, schizophrenia and manic depression.

In 1997, he returned to the U.K. and lived with his half-sister, but this arrangement did not last; in time, he became homeless and began sleeping on the streets. From this point, James spent almost 10 years either sleeping rough or staying briefly in charity-run shelters; it was during this time that he began to use heroin in an attempt to escape the realities of homelessness.

Meeting Bob
In Spring 2007, James was enrolled on a methadone programme, busking in Covent Garden, and living in sheltered accommodation in Tottenham, London. One evening he returned home to find a ginger cat in the hallway of his building; assuming it belonged to another resident, he simply returned to his flat. When the cat was still there the following day, and the day after that, James became concerned and discovered the cat was wearing no collar or ID tag, and had an infected wound on his leg. James checked with other residents to see if the stray belonged to any of them, and when none of them claimed ownership of the animal James decided to help the cat himself.

He took the cat to a nearby veterinary surgery run by an animal charity, which provided antibiotics to treat the infected wound. In order to make sure he received the full two-week course of medication, James decided to take him in for a time while he continued to look for the stray’s owner. When he couldn’t find any information, he released the cat back on to the street, hoping he’d find his own way home. Instead, he began to follow James around, even following him onto the bus when he left to go busking. Concerned that the cat had nowhere else to go, James took him in on a permanent basis, naming him Bob after a character from the television drama Twin Peaks.

Since Bob seemed keen to accompany James to work, he constructed a harness from shoelaces and began to bring him along to his regular spots in Covent Garden and Piccadilly, travelling in the window seat of the number 73 bus. The public reaction was positive and the pair became popular, their visibility increasing still further when James began selling the Big Issue.

Soon the public began uploading videos of James and Bob to YouTube, and tourists from across the world would visit Covent Garden to see them. During this time, James decided to withdraw the methadone treatment; he credits his success to Bob, saying “I believe it came down to this little man. He came and asked me for help, and he needed me more than I needed to abuse my own body. He is what I wake up for every day now... he’s definitely given me the right direction to live my life.”

Books
Currently, three books have been published about James and Bob.

• A Street Cat Named Bob was first published in 2012. It began with the Islington Tribune, which printed his story in September, 2010. Mary Pachnos, the literary agent responsible for the UK rights to John Grogan’s Marley and Me, read the story and subsequently secured the pair a book deal with U.K. publishers Hodder & Stoughton. Co-written by Garry Jenkins, the book sold over 1,000,000 copies, been translated into 29 languages, and spent over 76 weeks at the top of the Sunday Times’ bestseller list in both its hardback and paperback format. In 2013, St. Martin's Press issued the book in the U.S.

• The World According to Bob is the follow-up to A Street Cat Named Bob. It was released in 2013. It has now spent every week in the top 10 of the London Sunday Times' bestseller list with only two of those weeks not at No.1

•  Bob: No Ordinary Cat is a version of the book A Street Cat Named Bob re-written specifically for children. It was released on Valentine's day in 2013.

James and his literary agent are in talks with a producer for a possible film adaptation of the book. (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 10/22/2013.)

Book Reviews
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.
(London) Times
 

A simple, sweet and ridiculously heartwarming story.
Huffington Post


A book with the strong ingredients that made Marley and Me and Dewey big successes…A warm and poignant memoir.
Guardian (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)


Bowen isn’t exaggerating; when he met a stray ginger tomcat...he was estranged from his family and recovering from heroin addiction.... His chance encounter with Bob in 2007 changed everything. The injured animal attached himself to Bowen, and quickly proved more than just an emotional asset.... 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 heartwarming, insightful read about two lost souls who find each other, this book, a No. 1 London Times best seller, is not to be missed for fans of Lisa J. Edwards's A Dog Named Boo and Gwen Cooper's Homer's Odyssey. An inspiring story of healing, redemption, and, perhaps most important, the transformative powers of friendship. —Melissa Culbertson, Homewood, IL
Library Journal


(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


How a cat helped one man on the road to recovery from drugs.... The author describes delightful moments spent with Bob as well as a harrowing instance when the cat streaked off into the city streets after being threatened by a dog. With confidence gained through his ability to earn money and to tend to Bob's needs, Bowen was finally able to kick his drug dependency and make amends with his estranged mother. A rich, moving story of the link between a street-wise cat and a man who earns his living on the streets--perfect for cat lovers.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for A Street Cat Names Bob:

1. Talk about the strange connection that exists between humans and animals. What makes us bond with one another? James was barely able to care for himself, as he admits, so what prompted him to undertake the care and added expense of a sick animal?

2. Bowen says that Bob attracted people and motivated them to offer money, far more generously than when he was playing on his own. What is it about animals—but not people—that brings out people's kindness charity? is there something strange about that? Isn't that backwards?

3. On the publisher's book trailer one man says that James and Bob's story changed his perception of homeless people. He came to see them differently than he had in the past. How do you react to the homeless? Do you ever stop to talk, learn their story, offer money, a word of encouragement, a cup of coffee? Has this book made you see homeless people differently?

4. Bowen's story, of an animal that changes one's life, is exceptional but not unique. What is it about animals that can heal the human soul?

5. Talk about the trajectory of young James's life. How did he end up on the streets of London? What part did his mental health and/or his family history play? How responsible is/was James for his troubled life? To what degree are any of us responsible for the path our lives take?

6. Talk about your own relationships with your pets. Perhaps not as dramatically as Bob has done for James Bowen, but have animals in any way shaped your life?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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