James Bowen (1) (1979–)
Author of A Street Cat Named Bob and How He Saved My Life
For other authors named James Bowen, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
James Bowen (born on March 15, 1979) was a street musician in London when he found Bob the Ginger cat in Spring, 2007. The pair, now famous around the world, have been inseparable ever since. Bowen wrote the bestselling book, A Street Cat Named Bob and How He Saved My Life in 2013. As their book show more climbed bestseller lists in many countries and their fame skyrocketed, Bob began to receive hand-knitted scarves from all over the world. One such scarf can be seen on the cover of the paperback edition. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Author 1: James Bowen and his former streetcat Bob.
Series
Works by James Bowen
The World According to Bob: The Further Adventures of One Man and His Streetwise Cat (2013) 532 copies, 22 reviews
A Gift from Bob: How a Street Cat Helped One Man Learn the Meaning of Christmas (2014) 187 copies, 14 reviews
Ielas kaķis, vārdā Bobs : [sirsnīgs stāsts par to, kā cilvēks un viņa kaķis atguva cerību] (2016) 1 copy
Fantastični mačak Bob 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1979-03-15
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- street musician
magazine seller
author - Short biography
- James Bowen (born 15 March 1979,[1] Surrey) is an author and busker[2] currently based in London. His books A Street Cat Named Bob and The World According to Bob, written with the author Garry Jenkins, were both international best-sellers.[3]
"The World According to Bob"
The World According To Bob continues the story of James and Bob's lives on the street, including the period leading up to their meeting with his agent Mary Pachnos. It was released on July 4, 2013 and was also a number one book on The Sunday Times' bestseller list
"Bob: No Ordinary Cat"
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 2013.
"Where In The World Is Bob?"
"Where in The World Is Bob?" is a picture book in which readers have to spot Bob, James and assorted other items in scenes around the world. It mirrors Bob's travels in a hugely popular blog "Around the World In 80 Bobs", where fans of the book take photographs of the famous cat at various locations around the world.[11] It was published in October 2013.
"My Name Is Bob"
"My Name is Bob", a picture book for young children written by James with Garry Jenkins and illustrated by Gerald Kelley, will be published by Random House in the UK in April, 2014. It imagines Bob's life prior to him meeting James.
Movie Option and Awards
It was announced in March 2014, that the film had been optioned by London-based Shooting Script Films, and its producer Adam Rolston. [12]
"A Street Cat Named Bob" was nominated for the UK's National Book Awards in the Popular Non-Fiction category in November, 2012. [13]In March 2014, A Street Cat Named Bob, was listed at No 7 on a list of the most inspiring teenage books as part of a poll for World Book Day.[14]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Surrey, England, UK
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
Australia - Associated Place (for map)
- England, UK
Members
Reviews
I am so happy that I finally got around reading this because I seriously loved every page of it.
The author lived in sheltered housing and was a busker on a methadone program, trying to get off heroin, when he encountered a ginger tomcat in the hall of his building, injured, thin and exhausted. Being a cat lover, he couldn't abandon the tomcat all to himself and in the end kept him, which changed both of their lives.
The story sounds so cheesy, which is probably why I never really read this show more book until now - I love the cover and I love cats, but I did not expect much of this memoir. However, it is told so naturally and in such an authentic manner that I couldn't help but warm to James and Bob from page one. It feels like sitting in a café and just chatting to the author.
I must admit that I cried over a few chapters, for example when he describes how he finally stopped taking methadone and Bob helped him cope with the utterly terrible withdrawal symptoms he encountered during the first days. It is such a poignant story of how much animals can give to humans.
Apart from this, I also appreciated the insides the author gives into his daily life as a busker and later as a seller of the Big Issue, always being invisible or seen as a nuisance or a lazy person, while in truth working hard for a very small wage. This made me reflect on the way society (myself included) sees homeless people. So although this really is a feel good book, it does have some serious topics, but it is very readable because James is such a relatable character in his own story and simply tells the reader about what happened to him without pointing a finger. You cannot help but root for him and this is why I definitely want to read the other two books of this series. show less
The author lived in sheltered housing and was a busker on a methadone program, trying to get off heroin, when he encountered a ginger tomcat in the hall of his building, injured, thin and exhausted. Being a cat lover, he couldn't abandon the tomcat all to himself and in the end kept him, which changed both of their lives.
The story sounds so cheesy, which is probably why I never really read this show more book until now - I love the cover and I love cats, but I did not expect much of this memoir. However, it is told so naturally and in such an authentic manner that I couldn't help but warm to James and Bob from page one. It feels like sitting in a café and just chatting to the author.
I must admit that I cried over a few chapters, for example when he describes how he finally stopped taking methadone and Bob helped him cope with the utterly terrible withdrawal symptoms he encountered during the first days. It is such a poignant story of how much animals can give to humans.
Apart from this, I also appreciated the insides the author gives into his daily life as a busker and later as a seller of the Big Issue, always being invisible or seen as a nuisance or a lazy person, while in truth working hard for a very small wage. This made me reflect on the way society (myself included) sees homeless people. So although this really is a feel good book, it does have some serious topics, but it is very readable because James is such a relatable character in his own story and simply tells the reader about what happened to him without pointing a finger. You cannot help but root for him and this is why I definitely want to read the other two books of this series. show less
The World According to Bob: The Further Adventures of One Man and His Street-wise Cat by James Bowen
I don't typically read sequels, but I enjoyed James Bowen's first book, A Street Cat Named Bob so much that I couldn't wait for the second, The World According to Bob to come out. When it finally did, I devoured it in two days.
The second book is a lot like the first, but I found a certain added poignancy in The World According to Bob. In the first book, Bowen was a man who had nothing, and therefore, as Bob Dylan famously sung, had nothing to lose. In the second book, Bowen realizes the show more extent to which he and Bob depend on each other. When outside forces threaten to tear them apart, as happens a few times in the narrative, I felt Bowen's anxiety along with him. Fortunately, this uplifting book, like its predecessor, ends happily.
Highly recommended for all Bob fans! show less
The second book is a lot like the first, but I found a certain added poignancy in The World According to Bob. In the first book, Bowen was a man who had nothing, and therefore, as Bob Dylan famously sung, had nothing to lose. In the second book, Bowen realizes the show more extent to which he and Bob depend on each other. When outside forces threaten to tear them apart, as happens a few times in the narrative, I felt Bowen's anxiety along with him. Fortunately, this uplifting book, like its predecessor, ends happily.
Highly recommended for all Bob fans! show less
"Ordinarily, no one would engage or even exchange a look with me. I was a busker and this was London. I didn't exist. I was a person to be avoided, shunned even. But as I walked down Neal Street that afternoon almost every person we passed was looking at me. Well, more to the point, they were looking at Bob... It must have looked slightly incongruous, a tall, long-haired bloke walking along with a large, ginger tom on his shoulders."
This is SUCH a sweet autobiography. It's not the most show more amazingly written book, it doesn't dazzle you with its exquisite prose - but you know what? Sometimes it's the story that counts, and this is a lovely one. As most of the universe will already know by now, it's about how James, a recently homeless recovering drug addict, finds a bedraggled ginger tom cat in his apartment building and, being the soppy sort, decides to take him in. Initially only intending to help Bob recover from various street-life-induced problems, the pair quickly become inseparable. After a while Bob starts to follow James to his busking gigs and sits by his side while he's working, earning plenty of interest (and extra coins) from passers-by. In turn, caring for Bob gives James a friend, a responsibility, someone to get up for every morning, a lifeline to happiness even during his darkest hours. This is the story of their friendship and how Bob and James changed each other's lives for the better. It's got some really tear-jerking moments, some dark ones and some all-out gorgeous ones, and I loved it. Bob and his little scarf, of course, are now famous around the world, partly thanks to his penchant for riding around London on James's shoulder!
This isn't only a tale of one man and his faithful cat - though of course, Bob is a constant theme from beginning to end - it's also a rather harrowing insight into life on the poverty line. James has been homeless, has been a drug addict, and throughout most of the book is on a methadone program to wean him off heroin. As an official busker in London, he works long days come rain or shine to scrape together enough to live on, and although Bob's presence ups his daily takings it's still not enough if sudden expenses arise. Not only that, but he's constantly vulnerable to attack by the... let's be honest here, the nasty pieces of work that riddle our society... as well as facing prejudice and verbal abuse on a daily basis.
As he starts to pull his life back together (with a little help from his feline friend), his next step is to become a Big Issue seller. This book will hopefully be a huge boost to sellers, because most people, like me, probably have no idea what this actually entails. I had no idea, for example, that for a seller the magazine is like a personal business. When they first become a seller (all sellers are licensed and given a spot to work from) they get a handful of copies for free, but after that it's up to them. Magazines must be bought (for a set price) before they can be sold on (again, at a set price), and stock must be carefully managed to avoid over- or under-buying. When the next issue comes out, some of the profit is used to buy new magazines, and so on. I didn't really know any of this, so I think I'm a lot more likely to be sympathetic to our local sellers and start picking up an issue every now and again!
All in all, this is a great little heart-warming read (especially for my fellow cat lovers). James is now fundraising to pour money back into the Blue Cross, the veterinary charity that helped him out with Bob when money was tight, which makes me like him even more. A bloody good chap - and a VERY cute cat. :) show less
This is SUCH a sweet autobiography. It's not the most show more amazingly written book, it doesn't dazzle you with its exquisite prose - but you know what? Sometimes it's the story that counts, and this is a lovely one. As most of the universe will already know by now, it's about how James, a recently homeless recovering drug addict, finds a bedraggled ginger tom cat in his apartment building and, being the soppy sort, decides to take him in. Initially only intending to help Bob recover from various street-life-induced problems, the pair quickly become inseparable. After a while Bob starts to follow James to his busking gigs and sits by his side while he's working, earning plenty of interest (and extra coins) from passers-by. In turn, caring for Bob gives James a friend, a responsibility, someone to get up for every morning, a lifeline to happiness even during his darkest hours. This is the story of their friendship and how Bob and James changed each other's lives for the better. It's got some really tear-jerking moments, some dark ones and some all-out gorgeous ones, and I loved it. Bob and his little scarf, of course, are now famous around the world, partly thanks to his penchant for riding around London on James's shoulder!
This isn't only a tale of one man and his faithful cat - though of course, Bob is a constant theme from beginning to end - it's also a rather harrowing insight into life on the poverty line. James has been homeless, has been a drug addict, and throughout most of the book is on a methadone program to wean him off heroin. As an official busker in London, he works long days come rain or shine to scrape together enough to live on, and although Bob's presence ups his daily takings it's still not enough if sudden expenses arise. Not only that, but he's constantly vulnerable to attack by the... let's be honest here, the nasty pieces of work that riddle our society... as well as facing prejudice and verbal abuse on a daily basis.
As he starts to pull his life back together (with a little help from his feline friend), his next step is to become a Big Issue seller. This book will hopefully be a huge boost to sellers, because most people, like me, probably have no idea what this actually entails. I had no idea, for example, that for a seller the magazine is like a personal business. When they first become a seller (all sellers are licensed and given a spot to work from) they get a handful of copies for free, but after that it's up to them. Magazines must be bought (for a set price) before they can be sold on (again, at a set price), and stock must be carefully managed to avoid over- or under-buying. When the next issue comes out, some of the profit is used to buy new magazines, and so on. I didn't really know any of this, so I think I'm a lot more likely to be sympathetic to our local sellers and start picking up an issue every now and again!
All in all, this is a great little heart-warming read (especially for my fellow cat lovers). James is now fundraising to pour money back into the Blue Cross, the veterinary charity that helped him out with Bob when money was tight, which makes me like him even more. A bloody good chap - and a VERY cute cat. :) show less
The title says it all: this the uplifting story of a beautiful ginger tom whose companionship gives purpose to the life of an aimless street musician. It's not all purring and fluffiness, however. There are some tough themes such as homelessness, poverty, drug addiction and mental illness, as well as a harrowing depiction of methadone withdrawal. Nonetheless, the bond between man and cat withstands all, and together they triumph over every adversity. Both James and Bob emerge as very show more likeable. If you've ever loved a cat, you may see your own feline friend reflected in loyal, intelligent, irrepressible Bob. show less
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