Bowen - The Little Book of Bob

James Bowen is the author of the bestselling A Street Cat Named Bob and The World According to Bob . He found Bob the cat in 2007 and the pair have been inseparable ever since. They both live in London.

Also by James Bowen

A Street Cat Named Bob

The World According to Bob

Bob: No Ordinary Cat

For the Love of Bob

Where in the World is Bob?

My Name is Bob

A Gift from Bob

The Little Book of Bob

James Bowen

www.hodder.co.uk

First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Hodder & Stoughton

An Hachette UK company

Copyright James and Bob Ltd and Connected Content Ltd 2018

The right of James Bowen and Garry Jenkins to be identified as the

Author of the Work has been asserted by them in accordance with

the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Illustrations Dan Williams

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any

means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be

otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that

in which it is published and without a similar condition being

imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

Hardback ISBN 978 1 473 68829 2

eBook ISBN 978 1 473 68830 8

Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

Carmelite House

50 Victoria Embankment

London EC4Y 0DZ

www.hodder.co.uk

To Ron Richardson, always there for me, no matter what.

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.

Marcus Aurelius

I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.

Hippolyte Taine

Contents

Introduction

Like most people, Ive made bad choices in my life. More than a few of them.

My decision to adopt a ginger street cat named Bob definitely wasnt one, however. Quite the opposite; Id say it was the wisest move Ive ever made. In many ways, we saved each other. He had been injured when I found him in the spring of 2007 and Id nursed him back to health.

He certainly rescued me. When I look back on it, my life had been a real mess before I met him. For a decade or more, Id been an addict and had spent an extended period homeless, sleeping rough or in shelters. I had been down to my last chance on my ninth life, if you like. I credit him with helping me to turn things around.

Ive often thought about the life Bob led before we met. To judge by the wounds on his body when I met him, hed been living a precarious existence. He had obviously got himself into a few scrapes. But how had he lived from day to day? Had he always been a street cat? Or had someone else looked after him before me? I had no idea.

Throughout our time together he has remained a puzzle. An enigma.

One thing I have known from the very beginning, however, is that he possesses a wisdom that is unusual, even in cats.

I dont know if this has anything to do with lessons he learned during that earlier, mysterious life, but its as if he is some ancient philosopher who understands everything and everyone around him. As if hes seen it all before. Knows life inside out. Nothing seems to faze him. He takes everything in his stride.

In the decade since we met, hes grown even wiser, in my eyes. My life has changed quite dramatically during that time, thanks to a series of memoirs about our life together and then a movie, A Street Cat Named Bob . He has adapted to the changes that have occurred in our fortunes with ease. He is as comfortable meeting people at book signings or film premieres as he was sitting on the pavement while I strummed my guitar in Covent Garden or sold The Big Issue outside the tube station at the Angel in north London.

I know it might sound strange or even slightly silly to say this about a cat, but I find him inspirational. Sometimes, simply sitting down and watching him is enough to set my mind whirring away. Im fascinated by the way he conducts himself, the way he interacts with the world and responds to different situations. Even the way he lives his day-to-day routine. Being with him has opened my eyes to so much. Provoked so many thoughts. For the past ten years or more, he has genuinely been a kind of guru to me.

This book is a collection of some of the experiences and insights Ive gained during my years with Bob. A guide to his street wisdom, if you like. I hope it helps you as much as he has helped me.

James Bowen

London, 2018

PART ONE

In Bob We Trust Lessons in Friendship

People often say that humans dont adopt cats; its more a case of them adopting us. I suspect that is probably true. They are highly intelligent animals, after all. And deep down, I have a hunch they are smart enough to understand something that we humans too often overlook the all-important value of friendship. Ive certainly grown to appreciate it more thanks to Bob.

Friendship Is a Pair of New Boots

Bob was a pretty rough-and-ready character when he came to live with me.

He didnt take kindly to being told off and could be a real handful if I stopped him from doing something. Before I had him neutered, he would lash out and scratch me. My hands bore the scars of his occasional tantrums.

Id be lying if I said his behaviour didnt annoy me at times. But I had formed an instant affection for him and wanted our relationship to work.

At that time, I remember, Id just bought myself a pair of black, army-style boots, from a local charity store. My old pair had literally fallen apart. The new pair did not quite fit me properly; the boots were a bit tight and had started to chafe and blister my feet. The best part of the day was taking them off.

It was as I slipped off the boots and let my feet breathe one evening, that it struck me.

Bob was pacing the flat, looking a little agitated. Earlier that evening, he had hissed at me when Id tried to encourage him to use the litter tray I had brought into the house.

He was bound to feel uneasy with me and his new home, I thought to myself. Things I did were bound to rub him up the wrong way. But with patience, we would mould our friendship to fit each others personality. We would get used to each other and our very different ways.

Our friendship was actually no different to my new pair of boots. It was going to take time. There would be some discomfort. Wed irritate each other. But in the end, wed fit each other just fine. And so it proved.

Free Spirits

The moment I knew Bob and I were destined to be together came, one unforgettable day, when he jumped on the bus to travel with me into London.

I had been flabbergasted. Id shooed him away after hed followed me to the bus stop from my flat and, as the bus had pulled away, had assumed hed been left behind on the pavement. But suddenly, there he was, sitting on the seat next to me, curled up next to my guitar case as if he too was part of my luggage.

The bus conductor had smiled at me and asked me whether he was mine.

I guess he must be, Id replied at the time, but Id quickly come to realise that wasnt quite the case.

Bob is a force of nature, a free spirit. He wasnt mine. He wasnt a possession. I didnt own him then, nor do I own him now. Weve chosen to be together in the present. But who knows whether we will be in the future? He will always be my friend, but hes free to leave whenever he wants.