James Bowen

James Bowen (born March 15, 1979 in Surrey ) is a British writer and musician who became famous around the world with the bestselling book Bob the Stray .

Life

James Bowen with Bob

James Bowen lived as a street musician in London , where he performed with his tomcat Bob. In September 2010, the Islington Tribune first reported on the two. Through the newspaper report, literary agent Mary Pachnos became aware of Bowen. She signed him, and together with Garry Jenkins they wrote the book A Street Cat Named Bob . In the book, James Bowen, a drug addict, unemployed street musician (later Big Issue newspaper seller) tells how he one day found an injured cat outside his apartment door. He nursed the cat back to health and tried to restore his freedom. However, the cat James called "Bob" just kept coming back to him. And since no one was looking for the cat, James kept him. So a kind of community of convenience developed between the two. With his presence, Bob made sure that more people listened to James' music and donated money, kept James company and James provided the cat Bob with food and a roof over his head in return. This soon resulted in an intimate friendship, with the help of which James was able to overcome his drug addiction.

The book has been translated into 26 languages ​​and was on the Sunday Times bestseller list for over a year . It was published in German on May 17, 2013 under the title Bob, the Streuner - The Cat That Changed My Life . In the paperback edition, it reached number 1 on the Spiegel bestseller list in June 2013 .

On March 13, 2014, another book by James Bowen, The World According to Bob , was published in Germany under the title Bob and how he sees the world . In this book, James tells how his life with Bob has been so far. In 2014, another book by Bob and James, A Gift from Bob , was published in Germany under the title A Gift from Bob , which also took first place on the Spiegel bestseller list. 2015 next story book was published, entitled For the Love of Bob , German Everybody Loves Bob . The books by James Bowen have also been published in digital form by Bastei Lübbe Verlag. The titles Bob the Stray, A Gift from Bob and Bob and How He Sees the World are also available as audio books.

The film adaptation of Bob the Streuner started in German cinemas on January 12, 2017. Luke Treadaway played the leading role .

The tomcat Bob died on June 15, 2020, aged over 14.

Works (in German)

• Bob the stray. The cat that changed my life . Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-404-60693-1 .
• Bob and how he sees the world. New adventures with the stray . Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-404-60802-7 .
• A present from Bob. A winter fairy tale with the stray . Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-404-60846-1 .
• Everyone loves bob. New stories from the stray . Boje, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-414-82430-1 .
• Bob the Stray - This is my story. Boje, Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-414-82395-3 .
• Bob the Stray - The book for the film. Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-404-60934-5 .
• My best friend, Bob. What I learned about happiness from the stray . Bastei Lübbe, Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3-404-61034-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Two strays get rich and famous . Article by Thomas Kielinger . In: Die Welt from March 1, 2015.
2. ↑ Islington Tribune: Two cool cats ... the Big Issue seller and a stray called Bob
3. ↑ Street Cat Named Bob: pet who inspired books and film dies aged 14. In: The Guardian. June 16, 2020, accessed June 17, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Katherine Cowdrey: James Bowen says goodbye to 'unforgettable' street cat Bob. In: The Bookseller. June 16, 2020, accessed June 17, 2020 .