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A Cat Called Birmingham by Chris Pascoe
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?
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First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
January 5, 2019
2019 Re-Read: Loved it just as much the second time around.
Laughed all the way through. A must read for cat lovers.
Laughed all the way through. A must read for cat lovers.
December 2, 2012
One of the funniest books that I have ever read...
Hysterically funny!!! I was laughing so hard that I could not read!!!!
Why is it that other people get cross when you are reading and laughing so hard??? or prehaps it is just my grumpy Husband LOL!!!!
Hysterically funny!!! I was laughing so hard that I could not read!!!!
Why is it that other people get cross when you are reading and laughing so hard??? or prehaps it is just my grumpy Husband LOL!!!!
October 10, 2007
A man and his embarrassing cat. Whatever you do don't read this book in a public place or in bed where a partner is trying to read, or sleep. You'll be laughing out loud so much that they'll either send the men in white coats to cart you away to the nearest loony bin or your partner will smother you with a pillow.
July 14, 2008
One of the funniest books I have read in a long, long time
May 7, 2012
The two books by Chris Pascoe about his cat Brum are the funniest books that I ever read, and the only books that I have re-read repeatedly.
February 19, 2025
I had read the second opus first, (You can take the cat out of Slough...) and found it really funny. While this one still got a giggle out of me I guess two books about a silly cat might be a bit much in a short amount of time as I did not like it as much. Still, if you're a cat person and want a quick read for that doesn't require much thinking, I'd recommend it.
2.5
2.5
January 12, 2025
Fou rire garanti !
August 5, 2016
This was a book I bought through a 3-for-£5 deal when I was in Dundee last year. It was a £1.6666 very well spent indeed.
Anyone who might have ever owned, lived with or generally loved cats will see so much truth in this little memoire. The very notion that individual animals of certain species possess varying personality traits is something we don't really acknowledge. We might say "this cat is lazy" or " How often haven't we all generalised when talking about "vengeful, selfish" cats or "trusting, loyal" dogs?
Birmingham, or Brum, is proof that animals can have spectacularly, or should I say, catastrophically different personalities than anything anyone might have ever expected! Brum is so unfeline it's surprising he's a cat at all. The list of things this tabby has achieved is not short of extraordinary and even though living with such a cat could be dangerous to everyone involved, I think it would be a remarkably fun experience. I admit I'd pay good money to overhear a Yuki-Brum conversation or just watch them at play. Maybe they should do a Big Brother kind of thing with deviant pets instead of human sociopaths and see what happens!
A Cat Called Birmingham is a very funny book. It gets 4 and not 3 stars just because it made me actually laugh out loud more times than I remember any other book recently doing. Chris Pascoe hits the nail on the head a lot of the time with cats and how they can be such a great source of comedy. In fact, the book made me even more of a cat lover. You may be wondering: is that even possible? I thought it wasn't; I was wrong. Such awww-inducing personal stories can't but reinforce any sense of proximity and love there may be between the races of humans and felines.
Anyone who might have ever owned, lived with or generally loved cats will see so much truth in this little memoire. The very notion that individual animals of certain species possess varying personality traits is something we don't really acknowledge. We might say "this cat is lazy" or " How often haven't we all generalised when talking about "vengeful, selfish" cats or "trusting, loyal" dogs?
Birmingham, or Brum, is proof that animals can have spectacularly, or should I say, catastrophically different personalities than anything anyone might have ever expected! Brum is so unfeline it's surprising he's a cat at all. The list of things this tabby has achieved is not short of extraordinary and even though living with such a cat could be dangerous to everyone involved, I think it would be a remarkably fun experience. I admit I'd pay good money to overhear a Yuki-Brum conversation or just watch them at play. Maybe they should do a Big Brother kind of thing with deviant pets instead of human sociopaths and see what happens!
A Cat Called Birmingham is a very funny book. It gets 4 and not 3 stars just because it made me actually laugh out loud more times than I remember any other book recently doing. Chris Pascoe hits the nail on the head a lot of the time with cats and how they can be such a great source of comedy. In fact, the book made me even more of a cat lover. You may be wondering: is that even possible? I thought it wasn't; I was wrong. Such awww-inducing personal stories can't but reinforce any sense of proximity and love there may be between the races of humans and felines.
February 17, 2014
When I saw this book, I thought it would be prefect for me. I love cats, and a humorous book about a clumsy cat sounds right up my furball lovin' alley. The only trouble is, it's not really funny. There's jokes aplenty, but they all read like someone struggling to be funny while discussing something that "you had to be there" to appreciate.
There's not much else to say. The writing is fine. The illustrations are cute. But not one anecdote in the book got anything more than a faint smile out of me.
I give A Cat Called Birmingham two stars, and I might recommend it to cat lovers. But if you can find these anecdotes funny, you might be more of a dog person, possibly.
There's not much else to say. The writing is fine. The illustrations are cute. But not one anecdote in the book got anything more than a faint smile out of me.
I give A Cat Called Birmingham two stars, and I might recommend it to cat lovers. But if you can find these anecdotes funny, you might be more of a dog person, possibly.
November 2, 2012
I just love this book. Quite apart from the antics of Birmingham (or Brum, as he is more usually called) a rather accident-prone tabby cat, the narrator himself never failed to make me laugh. A lovely lighthearted read. Cat lovers will love it partcularly.
July 22, 2016
Hilarious biography of a real cat with issues! Let's just say that he managed to set himself on fire many times, and these were his less disturbing adventures. Still he survived. Exceedingly funny, and his human clearly loves him dearly
November 6, 2009
One of the funniest books I've ever read... Read this aboard a flight and got many stares and funny looks!
January 30, 2010
A really funny read - lots of humourous anecdotes of life with the cat and all his escapades - had me laughing out loud quite frequently
January 12, 2011
Easy bedtime reading about a kamakazee cat
February 18, 2012
I can do belly laugh for this one ! but seriously, I never met this kind of cat....Very silly ! but of course I do recommend this book !
November 19, 2012
Hilarious, there were parts where I just couldn't stop laughing. Definitely a book I would read over and over again!
October 4, 2013
Un agréable petit livre qui se lit très vite et qui fera remonter quelques souvenirs aux propriétaires et amoureux de chats. Un bon moment !
December 12, 2016
Do not read on bus!
A very funny book that had me chuckling away as I read it,much to my husband's amusement.I was already a fan of Chris from his column in a woman's magazine.
A very funny book that had me chuckling away as I read it,much to my husband's amusement.I was already a fan of Chris from his column in a woman's magazine.
October 16, 2023
Accidentally came across Chris Pascoe in a cat magazine - what a lucky find! This book made me laugh out loud so many times! Brum is an unbelievably accident-prone cat…and let’s not pretend his owner is any better (“Dancing Party WWF Smackdown”). A Cat called Birmingham does not limit itself to Brum’s humiliations, but also pays homage to felines in general. My favourite chapter has to be ‘Brummy Jones’ Diary’, but you need to be familiar with the original in order to appreciate it!
September 8, 2017
Laughed out loud, people looking at me like I'm crazy! Only problem: not long enough, I want more!!
June 11, 2018
Birmingham is an adorable cat. I am not a cat person but this book made me LAUGH!
January 10, 2020
Very funny. Lots of "laugh out loud" moments.
March 7, 2020
Absolutely hilarious!
Any cat owner will relate to this book!
Any cat owner will relate to this book!
June 4, 2020
Some of Birmingham’s adventures were laugh out loud funny but there was also a fair bit of padding between that didn’t really need to be there or keep my attention. A light relief read!
January 9, 2022
Very funny book and a quick read. Those who have cats may relate to some parts.
September 14, 2024
Love this book. One to keep.
June 15, 2025
Une super histoire sur ce chat courageux et franchement téméraire qui prouve qu'ils ont 9 vies et il en profite bien. Ce livre est un excellent moment de détente et de rire.
June 12, 2019
Laughter very nearly suffocated me. I would highly recommend the writings of Chris Pascoe for a peculiar but enlightening window into the psyche of an accident-prone cat.
I finished the book wanting to read more of Pascoe's writings, so reminiscent of Bill Bryson
I finished the book wanting to read more of Pascoe's writings, so reminiscent of Bill Bryson
April 16, 2017
Reading Challenge 2017:
1 out of 50 books read
Page count so far: 182
As a cat lover and someone who lives with two cats, I could identify with this book and I connected to Chris and his crazy yet lovable feline companion, Birmingham. It didn't take that long to read, perhaps two days, and overall I found it entertaining and enjoyable. More than once I found myself howling with laughter at Birmingham's hilarious and strange antics. I'll be looking more into Chris Pascoe's books so no doubt I'll buy some more in the future.
1 out of 50 books read
Page count so far: 182
As a cat lover and someone who lives with two cats, I could identify with this book and I connected to Chris and his crazy yet lovable feline companion, Birmingham. It didn't take that long to read, perhaps two days, and overall I found it entertaining and enjoyable. More than once I found myself howling with laughter at Birmingham's hilarious and strange antics. I'll be looking more into Chris Pascoe's books so no doubt I'll buy some more in the future.
July 20, 2011
Slightly frustrating book, hence my middling rating. When it hits the spot it is hilarious, often painfully so. But then there are other times when the author either rambles off onto another subject altogether (not the central cat Birmingham), or goes down too fanciful a route (last chapter I'm thinking of you). So not consistent enough for a higher rating.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews