In 1939, T. S. Eliot published Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats through the publishing house Faber and Faber, where he served as an editor. The book of light verse was the basis of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats, which was first produced in London's West End in 1981 and opened on Broadway the following year. In 2019, Webber’s musical was adapted in turn by Tom Hooper into a film by the same name staring James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift.
The poems, about feline psychology and social order, were collected from letters Eliot wrote to his godchildren.
Table of Contents
- The Naming of Cats
- The Old Gumbie Cat
- Growltiger's Last Stand
- The Rum Tum Tugger
- The Song of the Jellicles
- Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer
- Old Deuteronomy
- The Pekes and the Pollicles
- Mr. Mistoffelees
- Macavity: The Mystery Cat
- Gus: The Theatre Cat
- Bustopher Jones: The Cat about Town
- Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat
- The Ad-dressing of Cats
- Cat Morgan Introduces Himself