I don’t remember how I ran into this story, probably Facebook popped it up among the hundreds of cat videos that come on my feed. But I do know that in November 2012, when I accidentally got to Covent Garden because of my bad habit of not using a map, I didn’t know anything about Bob nor James. If I did, I would have gone looking for them. Shortly after, however, I ordered the first book about Bob and read it, because yes, it was a book about a cat. And I love cats, if you didn’t realise that by now. What I didn’t know was that this was not a book about a cat. Or not just that. I won’t go into details because I don’t want to give any spoilers. If you are curious about the story buy the book, take it from the library, download it, read it. Or better said, the books. I offered them to some cat people as presents and I haven’t heard one who said they didn’t like it. The best reaction I got from my parents: bought the book for mom, who wasn’t very impressed about me ranting all the time about this great book about a cat, mom started reading it, soon came dad, took the book and finished reading it in less than a day than gave it back to mom so she can enjoy the rest of the story. Both liked it a lot!

Or if you don’t want to read the books, watch the movie. Yes, there is a movie about Street Cat Bob. And Bob plays in it. And he even attended the premiere and was pampered by The Duchess of Cambridge who attended the event as well. I finally watched the movie today. I must say that probably, to someone who is not familiar with the story or all the details in the books, the movie might not make as much sense as to someone who is a fan. Yet, it is a very light and fun film worth watching when one wants to chill. Though Bob is cute when he’s playing himself, the story is not as shallow as it seems. Yes, there are a lot of tearjerking scenes that make things sweet, the books are way better but the movie is worth watching, since both the real Bob and the real James are part of it. And also because now if I think about it, the narrative behind these two popular culture texts teaches us a lesson. The lesson I learnt is that I can’t watch anything without analysing it… Ok, joking. It only reinforced my belief that cats are amazing. And I learnt other stuff about addictions, homelessness  and why I should be buying The Big Issue when I am in London.