Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

T.S. Eliot wrote these adorable cat poems for his grandsons and pals in the 1930s. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats has since charmed generations of youngsters and inspired the wonderful musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

T.S. Eliot has always struck most readers as a gloomy, fairly austere poet, with occasional sarcasm and comedy. Hence, many readers were intrigued to find out how he portrayed a group of alley cats and similar characters. And what they discovered has pleasantly surprised them!

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is very ludicrous and humorous, with a childlike or fairytale-like earnestness. The laws of the cats are presented with an endearingly tongue-in-cheek seriousness. The nicknames of the cats were also absurd and exaggerated. The book does a fantastic job of portraying a feeling of whimsy and playfulness, something many people would not anticipate from Eliot. But after reading the book, we believe this playfulness seems to match him rather well.

Author: T.S. Eliot

Year of Release: 1939

Goodreads Score: 4.07 stars (from 25,558 ratings)