Non-Fiction Book Review - 'A Street Cat Named Bob' by James Bowen

A wonderful true story all about hope. It is set in good old London (though one half of a chapter is in Australia) and stars the cat of the century, Bob.

The narrator, on a drug rehabilitation programme, made money playing his guitar on the streets for up to ten years, with no clear goal and not really going anywhere in life. Until, in Spring 2007, he found a ginger cat sitting outside his neighbour's door in his sheltered accommodation. This amazing, intelligent, mysterious and apparently fearless street moggy got James Bowen's life back on track - with the responsibility of caring for another living thing.

This applies to both the man and the cat.

Funny, sad, sweet and thought-provoking. The writing in 'A Street Cat Named Bob' is simple and easy to breeze through in an afternoon or evening time of reading. And yet I really believed in James's struggles to get through his day-to-day life. This life became more difficult when the recession hit in 2008 and he had to seriously start thinking about how he would achieve getting a solid job and integrating himself into society once more. I especially liked when he describes going "cold turkey" when he went off drugs completely for forty-two hours. The people in James's story are angels, bitter enemies, or in between, as ordinary people are. The book misses one star because there are a few inconsistencies - a women called Davika is then called Vanika on the next page.

'A Street Cat Named Bob' is as real as life on the streets - which happens to more people than we feel comfortable knowing about. It is an adorable book for cat lovers, but also an important milestone of non-fiction that I would recommend to anyone. This story is not even a quarter similar to those millions of internet cat films - there is a dark, gritty side to London, even in its most attractive tourist attractions, and to looking after and loving a pet on your own.

Not that that destroyed James Bowen's sense of humour and hope for the future. Or Bob's bravery and persistence in finding companionship.

(I halfheartedly apologise if this review reads as being muddled and all over the place. Pedantic aspiring author that I am, I just type my thoughts and hope it looks good when I separate them into paragraphs :P)

Final Score: 4/5