Street Cat Bob by James Bowen.

                     Street Cat Bob by James Bowen.

"I was a recovering drug addict and failed musician living a hand-to mouth life in sheltered housing. Taking care of myself was enough."

Bowen had a restless, unhappy and disturbed childhood travelling between the UK and Australia after his parents divorced. This unfortunately had an adverse effect. No friends. Bullying. He reflects on a particular sad incident whilst at Quinns Rock in Western Australia involving being stoned by the bullies which resulted in concussion. His step-father, Nick the Prick, disliked James so all in all, it is not surprising that an unhappy James soon became addicted to drugs and alcohol.

"I became a tear-away, a wild kid who was always late, always defying my mother and generally thumbing my nose at authority, no matter what form it took."

His destructive cycle of behaviour probably began with glue sniffing and smoking dope. This fog of drugs involved drink and petty crime, developing feelings of hopelessness culminating in even more of a serious addiction, heroin. Living on the streets of London "strips away your dignity, your identity-your everything. It also strips away people's opinions of you." By 1998, James had become totally dependent on heroin claiming he "probably came close to death a few times." Fortunately, a homeless charity picked him up and he was put on the vulnerable housing list so that he was entitled to priority sheltered housing.

This sounded like a lucky break for Bowen but sadly, the hostels and B & Bs were vile and he was in close contact with heroin and crack addicts. As his drug dependency worsened, in his late 20s, he ended up in rehab before being put on a drug rehabilitation programme. Heroin had been his friend when he was pure and simply lonely. On the other hand, busking gave him the opportunity to sort himself out but it was Bob that gave him the incentive to come clean. It saved him. In fact, it transformed his life.

 There was light at the end of the tunnel. His lucky break, his second chance happened in 2007: "We are all given second chances every day of our lives. They are there for the taking. It's just that we don't usually take them." Bowen was living in a new flat in Tottenham. He had been busking around Covent Garden and was returning home with Belle, his ex. It did help that Bowen, like me had a weakness for cats and so the sight of a ginger cat staring at him in a "steady, curious intelligent" way and rubbing against him as if he needed TLC, near his room was perhaps too much of a coincidence.

"The rejects of the city, like flotsam and jetsam on the beach. Maybe he'd spotted a kindred spirit in me."

It became clear that the ginger cat was homeless and some mashed up biscuits with tuna and milk of course, followed by a number of visits to the vets and antibiotics and Bowen was able to nurse the cat back to health. Once he had adopted him he chose the name Bob from "Twin Peaks," none other than Killer Bob! After a couple of weeks of TLC Bob improved. He was "a young male with way too many hormones flying around his body" so that  he "carried on acting like a whirling dervish." As Bowen was leaving home Bob followed him. He became so persistent that Bowen ended up by lifting Bob onto his shoulder and carrying him like Long John Silver. People stared and Bob drew in the punters to Bowen's surprise and delight. Bob became his extra special cat, his secret weapon who seemed to have an unusual way with people. He felt blessed for once that his life had become enriched and people treated him differently.

"It humanised me. In some ways it was giving me back my identity. I had been a non-person. I was becoming a person again."

Within the year and many treats later some kind soul knitted him a scarf and Belle bought him two small animal t-shirts with Santa Paws. Toys for Christmas and Bob behaved like a excitable child watched by a proud parent. A tight bond developed and Bowen's furry friend stuck to him like a limpet. His love for Bob gave him the incentive to come off methadone and come clean and the busking changed to selling The Big Issue with our furry friend who became known as Bob The Big Issue cat. He was on You Tube and featured in a local newspaper. A celebrity. At this point in time Bowen was then approached by an American agent and encouraged to write a book  with author Garry Jenkins. Since its publication the book has sold more than 1 million copies and has been translated into 30 languages. And there are more Bob books to enjoy. This one's a Quick Read, for everyone to enjoy.

"Everybody needs a break. Everybody deserves that second chance. Bob and I have taken ours."

The film began shooting  in October 2015. Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey)  plays Val, Bowen's counsellor. Anthony Head plays his father, Luke Treadwell  portrayed Bowen who makes a cameo appearance with Bob. The film arrived in UK cinemas in November 2016 to mixed reviews.
Brian Viner from The Daily Mail called it "sentimental mish-mash." "It's a good story, all the more heart-warming for being true." He is critical of the director, Roger Spottiswoode for making a "mixture of indecision and wrong decisions."He questions whether the film is meant to be  "hard-edged social realism" or a comedy. "Is it a cutesy, Disney-style tale of a man bonding with an animal?" He concludes that it is a "clumsy mish-mash" of all these things. Spottiswoode directed "Turner and Hooch" in 1989 with Tom Hanks playing opposite a dog. He calls it "crass misjudgment" shooting from Bob's point of view on certain occasions, chasing mice or dogs! Hardly original. He ends his article having awarded it 2 stars stating that he felt "mildly allergic" to the film advising people to see something better than this one!

Adrian Lobb (Big Issue.com) called the film "A Triumph." Henry Fitzherbert from the Sunday Express called it "Life-Affirming."
Patrick Smith (Evening Standard) refers to the film as an "earnest tale about second chances..{although}great cat-acting does not necessarily a great movie make!" with 3 star rating. With reference to Spottiswoode he states: "the film is a precarious balancing act, between cheery family hijinks and hard-hitting social drama."  On one level he says "it works as an amiable, unpretentious heart-warmer that seems tailor-made for Sunday afternoon viewing."

Publisher: Hodder.   ISBN: 978-1-473-60647-0

REVIEW it by Carol Naylor.

Copyright 2015. Permission must be obtained from the author before this article review is reproduced.