Cats: The Book of the Musical [Paperback]

T. S. Eliot (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harvest/HBJ Book | Publication Date: April 28, 1983

A richly illustrated book that re-creates the making of one of Broadway’s biggest hits, based on Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Color photographs and drawings by John Napier.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in 1888 in St. Louis, Missouri, and became a British subject in 1927. The acclaimed poet of The Waste Land, Four Quartets, and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, among numerous other poems, prose, and works of drama, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948. T.S. Eliot died in 1965 in London, England, and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (April 28, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156155826
• ISBN-13: 978-0156155823
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #189,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For us who love Cats more than we should..., January 24, 2000

By 

Kristian (*Way* North, Norway.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cats: The Book of the Musical (Paperback)

A nice enough book, with pictures from the (old! Probably original Cast) Broadway production. You get the pictures, all the lyrics (which you get just as well from "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats"), and, the most interesting part of the book; essays from Lloyd-Webber, Napier, Lynne and one other on the making of the musical Cats.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awsome, nearly all the lyrics, and pics!, March 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cats: The Book of the Musical (Paperback)

This book was awsome! The only thing that remotly threw me off track was the original cast's costumes! If you were like me, and had only seen the video, take a good close look at Mongogeri and Rumpletezer, then look at them in this book, it's freaky! The book contains nearly all the songs lyrics, (Excluding a few lines of the really long songs, such as Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat) and lots of photos from the original production. It's quite a bargin at approximently $13.00, my uncle payed much more for his!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent companion to the musical, August 26, 2000

By 

Yi-Peng (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cats: The Book of the Musical (Paperback)

Even despite the closure of the Broadway production, you can still relive the experience and memory of the show thorugh this wonderful picture book. With photographs from the Broadway premiere, and interesting commentaries by the production team, it can strongly be recomended to those who know nothing about the show. The photographs are generally well-taken, and captioned with extracts from the libretto, even despite the fact that in order to shorten the book, two long portions were taken out - one each from Gus: the Theatre Cat, and Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat. Yet, I know that the text is near-complete and rather satisfactory, but I suggest that you buy the original Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats as well. The one advantage this book has over the out-of-print edition with photography from the actual world-premiere production, is the greater reality achieved here. The actors look more like cats in this production. Overall, I think that this is an excellent book and a great gift to give to the CATS fanatic, or any musical lover.