Product Description

In the long history of mankind's relationship with felines, one cat stands head and shoulders below the rest. Highly inflammable, the glass-jawed Birmingham lurches from one catastrophe to the next. Through encounters with washing machine spin cycles to his lovelorn pursuit of the aggressively uninterested Sammy, Chris Pascoe's hilarious book paints an intimate portrait of the author's calamitous relationship with a cat wholly unsuited to being feline.

Persistently molested by an irate sparrow, physically incapable of negotiating the intricacies of the cat-flap and with a near-fatal appreciation of the effects of gravity, Brum nevertheless remains steadfast in his subconscious pursuit of oblivion.

Worryingly, these stories are true. Will nine lives be enough?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3948 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review
'Charming' -- Free Press 'Laughed out loud several times as did colleagues who I passed it on to ... The perfect pick-me-up on a dull day ... I read this with tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks.' -- Ella Reid, My Weekly 'Anyone who loves or knows cats will be able to relate to Chris Pascoe's hilarious and affectionate account of the hapless Birmingham's adventures. I literally cried with laughter.' -- Jo Rothery (Editor, Cat World Magazine) 'P.G.Wodehouse had his pekes, A.A. Milne his teddy bear - Chris Pascoe has his cat. A CAT CALLED BIRMINGHAM is the debut of an original comic voice - wry, assured, sometimes whimsical and sometimes surreal but throughout refreshingly uncynical. As a result of reading his book, I have taken to laughing at cats in the street, much to the puzzlement of the owners. We all know that the funniest bits of You've Been Framed are the animal slapstick - well, this book is all that and more besides: Pascoe relates the comic misadventures of his pet with unflagging energy and relish, underpinned with an affection that never becomes mawkish. He has the ability to fashion fine humour form the minutiae of everyday life - which is the best kind of humour. I have news for anyone who has laughed at the antics of an animal but not bothered to write it down. Someone has - Chris Pascoe.' -- Julian Dutton, writer, Alistair MacGowan Show 'This eccentric memoir has very little to do with the West Midland's favourite conurbation. Instead, it's the rather charming story of Mr Pascoe's own pet, a madcap moggy who can't help but cause mayhem ... It belongs to that very traditional genre - old-fashioned romance. It's just that instead of the usual boy-meets-girl hokum, we have the love that dare not speak its name. The passion between a man and his cat' -- Birmingham Sunday Mercury 'Charming tale is the cat's whiskers ... highly amusing' -- Slough and South Bucks Express '... this is one cool cat. A 'tail' of the most divine intervention.' -- Good Book Guide 'An original comic voice - wry, assured, sometimes whimsical and sometimes surreal but throughout refreshingly uncynical ... the best kind of humour' -- Julian Dutton, writer, Alistair MacGowan Show 'Charming' -- Free Press 'This eccentric memoir has very little to do with the West Midland's favourite conurbation. Instead, it's the rather charming story of Mr Pascoe's own pet, a madcap moggy who can't help but cause mayhem ... ' -- Birmingham Sunday Mercury 'I read this with tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks.' -- Eila Reid, Editor of My Weekly 'Anyone who loves or knows cats will be able to relate to Chris Pascoe's hilarious and affectionate account of the hapless Birmingham's adventures. I literally cried with laughter.' -- Jo Rothery (Editor, Cat World Magazine)

Review
'An original comic voice - wry, assured, sometimes whimsical and sometimes surreal but throughout refreshingly uncynical . . . the best kind of humour' (Julian Dutton, writer, Alistair MacGowan Show )

'Charming' (Free Press )

'This eccentric memoir has very little to do with the West Midland's favourite conurbation. Instead, it's the rather charming story of Mr Pascoe's own pet, a madcap moggy who can't help but cause mayhem . . . ' (Birmingham Sunday Mercury )

'Anyone who loves or knows cats will be able to relate to Chris Pascoe's hilarious and affectionate account of the hapless Birmingham's adventures. I literally cried with laughter.' (Jo Rothery (Editor, Cat World Magazine) )

'I read this with tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks.' (Eila Reid, Editor of My Weekly )

Jo Rothery (Editor, Cat World Magazine)
'I literally cried with laughter.'

Customer Reviews

Cat Called Birmingham
I don't often bother writing reviews for books but this one was funny, very funny, and I reckon it deserves one. I'd heard the author on the radio and he made me laugh, so when I saw the book in a shop the same day I glanced at it out of interest and started laughing straight away. I don't usually go for 'cat books' but this isn't exactly that. It's all about a cat yes, but it's more the series of crazy situations the cat gets himself and everyone else into. He's a near on useless cat, as clumsy and thick as two short planks, he can't even beat a sparrow in a one on one. But as the book progresses you get to really like him, as you do the people in this book. Pascoe is a witty writer. He relates each improbable episode so well that you start laughing well before 'the punchline' and even when you guess what's coming, you still laugh until it hurts. When a lot of the cat's maniac actions directly effect him (as in my favourite chapter when the pair of them wreck a whole room between them) Pascoe's resigned irony is hilarious. Each chapter contains a different story, all connected but running like a series of comedy episodes. I also found particularly amusing the three short fantasy scenario chapters, particularly one entitled crackpot theories which is a cleverly daft look at how a future evolved cat civilisation would work. The cat himself, Birmingham is remarkable. His falls, accidents, battles, fire and water antics and sheer bad luck make him one of the best comedy characters to emerge for quite some time. As mentioned, though, it's not all cat. Pascoe pokes a great deal of fun at his own escapades, and exceptionally funny here amongst others was a drunken brawl with a homicidal cat. My wife insisted on reading it after me just to see what I was making all the guffaws and laughing grunts about and she made exactly the same noises.It's difficult to catagorise this book exactly as it's so unusual. It's both a light hearted cat book and a comedy of errors, the humour is all of slapstick, observational, laugh out loud, embarrassing situations and ironic asides. In short it's hilarious, well written and a lot of fun and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a laugh.

So funny!
Birmingham made me laugh and laugh. I love cats and he is brilliant. Every chapter had me in stitches. Its so weird how I got this book - I was sitting on the beach in Portugal and a girl kept laughing out so loud. She read lots of funny lines out to her friend and she kept laughing too, and so did I! I ended up going over to ask what book she had and I thought I've got to read this. I bought it the day I got home and I'm so glad I did because it totally cheered me of my post holiday blues. So thanks girl on the beach for a very convincing review, and thanks Birmingham too you little loony!!

Fantastic
This has to be the funniest book I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I had tears of laughter running down my face from start to finish at the antics of Birmingham, so much so that my husband thought I'd gone mad! I adore cats and Chris Pascoe describes Birmingham's "mishaps" so well. I can't wait for more!