t s eliot cats, who worked as an editor at the publishing business Faber and Faber, released Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats in 1939. The light verse collection served as the inspiration for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats, which debuted on Broadway in 1982 after its initial run in London’s West End. Tom Hooper adapted Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical in turn into the 2019 movie of the same name, which starred James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, and Taylor Swift.
t s eliot cats gathered the poems, which are about feline psychology and social structure, from letters he addressed to his godchildren.
Summary of Contents
- Growltiger’s Last Stand
- The Rum Tum Tugger
- Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer
- Old Deuteronomy
- The Pekes and the Pollicles
- Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat
- The Ad-dressing of Cats
- Cat Morgan Introduces Himself
- Gus: The Theatre Cat
- Bustopher Jones: The Cat about Town
- The Old Gumbie Cat
- The Naming of Cats
- The Song of the Jellicles
- Mr. Mistoffelees
- Macavity: The Mystery Cat
Old Possum: Who is he?
t s eliot cats received the loving moniker “Possum” from fellow American poet Ezra Pound, whom he met in London. Pound picked it because Possums have a propensity to pretend to be dead in order to live. According to the critic Jeffrey M. Perl, Eliot’s “staid demeanor was an act.” This collection of poetry for kids reveals a jovial side to Eliot’s character.
What is depicted here?
All of the poems are composed of rhyming couplets. They draw inspiration from Edward Lear’s work as well as the English tradition of nonsensical poetry, which Eliot appreciated. This passage is a direct quotation from one of the most well-known poems in the book about the notorious criminal Macavity. There is no one like Macavity, the song goes, “He’s broken every human law, he breaches the law of gravity.”
Illustrations
The illustration on the 1939 edition’s cover, which is on exhibit here, was created by Eliot. Most people assume the illustration is a funny self-portrait! Eliot is the person holding out a ladder to a group of cats while wearing an extremely formal outfit. What’s beyond that boundary wall? What naughty things are they doing? We can view Eliot’s envisaged lives for a group of feline companions in the poetry book. Eliot’s characters have experienced more adventures than we could have ever imagined, from the disobedient Rum Tum Tugger to the one-eyed barge resident Growltiger and Mr. Mistoffelees “the conjuring cat”!
If you want to buy a book here
