A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life
*Starred Review* Books abound on the subject of how a dog or a cat can rehabilitate a person’s life, but this account of such an event is stellar. Only a heart of stone will not be moved—even to tears—in bearing witness to the love of a London street musician for the gorgeous ginger tomcat he found one day in his apartment building hallway. The cat, soon called Bob, was injured, so Bowen took him in but planned to nurse him only for a short while. After all, so Bowen’s reasoning went, he had very little surplus money to feed another mouth, and Bob, a “man” of the streets, would undoubtedly soon tire of domesticity and one day run away to hit the streets again. But that never happened. Bowen was a recovering addict and was himself recently just off the streets, and he soon established an intensely simpatico relationship with Bob. He fixed Bob up—and fixed Bob—and took him with him every day as he played guitar at the usual corner spots he’d claimed for himself. Bob became an instant attraction, and the result was increased income for Bowen as more money was tossed into his guitar case. This is 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 when you’re down and out. Understandably, this was a best-seller when first published in Great Britain. --Brad Hooper