Cats: The Book of the Musical (Paperback)

~ T. S. Eliot (Author) "In an early poem, 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock', T. S. Eliot likened the yellow fog of St. Louis to a cat..." (more)
Key Phrases: jellicle songs, jellicle cats, New York, Old Deuteronomy, Gumbie Cat (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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

About the Author

(Thomas Stearns Eliot), 1888–1965, American-British poet and critic, b. St. Louis, Mo. One of the most distinguished literary figures of the 20th cent., T. S. Eliot won the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature. He studied at Harvard, the Sorbonne, and Oxford. In 1914 he established residence in London and in 1927 became a British subject. After working as a teacher and a bank clerk he began a publishing career; he was assistant editor of the Egoist (1917–19) and edited his own quarterly, the Criterion (1922–39). In 1925 he was employed by the publishing house of Faber and Faber, eventually becoming one of its directors.—continue at Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2002 Columbia University Press.

He is most famous for such poems as "The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock" and "The Waste Land." He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but spent most of his adult life living in London, England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Harvest 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.com Sales Rank: #291,084 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #28 in

  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Authors, A-Z > ( E ) > Eliot, T. S.

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

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 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

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.