Homeless busker James Bowen was helped in his struggle against addiction by the companionship of a stray cat. Now his books charting their friendship have propelled him into an elite publishing clubSamuel Johnson used to buy oysters for his cat, Hodge; Charles Dickens was so distressed when his own pet died that he had its paw stuffed and turned into a letter opener. Now, proving that there is nothing the British like more than a heartwarming story about an indomitable feline, the homeless busker turned author James Bowen, who wrote about how his cat changed his life in A Street Cat Named Bob, has joined an elite club of writers to have sold more than one million copies of their books in the UK.In 2007, Bowen, a recovering drug addict, found an injured Bob curled up on a step when he himself was living in sheltered accommodation. "He gave me this look, almost saying, 'help', but also 'sort it out'," said the author today. Bowen nursed Bob back to health, only to find the cat following him everywhere he went, even joining him when he busked and sold the Big Issue. The pair became well-known in London, going on to attract the attention of a literary agent, who sold Bowen's story of how, with Bob's help, he would get over his addictions to heroin and methadone, to Hodder & Stoughton.The publisher said today that in just two years, combined sales of A Street Cat Named Bob (written with Garry Jenkins), its sequel The World According to Bob and the children's book Bob: No... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
North American publisher Doubleday Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, will this year release a previously unfinished children’s book by Mark Twain. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What Twain eventually learned, after an interminable time on the trail, is that turkeys have a genius for feigning injury. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-11-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This week: adventures in the human body, new Colum McCann, and the dark side of Mark Twain. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Police perjury, political manipulation and judicial failings … Thomas Grant’s pungent, amusing study details the heroic achievements of a supreme criminal barristerThe doyen of the English criminal bar, Jeremy Hutchinson, turned 100 on 28 March. Still a spry and self-sufficient figure, his... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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We should resist the easy cynicism that has greeted the sudden emergence of Go Set a WatchmanFew 88-year-old one-hit wonders could expect more than a shrug if they announced they were producing their second piece of work in 55 years. But news that Harper Lee is publishing what is essentially a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Homeless busker James Bowen was helped in his struggle against addiction by the companionship of a stray cat. Now his books charting their friendship have propelled him into an elite publishing clubSamuel Johnson used to buy oysters for his cat, Hodge; Charles Dickens was so distressed when his... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority,” Mark Twain once said, “it is time to pause and reflect.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When the University of California Press, in November 2010, published The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1, it was in for a surprise: the 760-page hardcover, priced at $45, became an immediate bestseller. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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