Jeoffry (2nd Edition)

The Poet's Cat

Jeoffry (2nd Edition)
Oliver Soden
RRP:
NZ$ 35.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 28.79
Paperback
h198 x 129mm - 208pg
24 Feb 2022 UK
International import eta 10-19 days
9780750999311
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
' For I am possessed of a cat, surpassing in beauty' Jeoffry was a real-life tomcat who lived 250 years ago. His fame came much later, when fragments of a poem written by his owner were dusted off in a private library. The seventy-four lines in praise of Jeoffry are now among the most anthologised verse in the English language and have even been set to music. Biographer Oliver Soden combines meticulous research with brilliant invention to tell the whole story of Jeoffry, a cat who was ' the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped' . The narrative moves from the infamous bordellos of Covent Garden to the lunatic asylum in which Jeoffry found himself confined with the brilliant and unstable Christopher Smart. In exchange for companionship during the darkest moments of his illness and incarceration, the poet would reward Jeoffry with the greatest tribute to a feline ever written. At once whimsical and profound, JEOFFRY THE POET' S CAT mingles fact with fiction to recount Jeoffry' s life and adventures against the roaring backdrop of eighteenth-century London. AUTHOR: Oliver Soden is a writer and broadcaster. His first book, an authorised biography of the composer Michael Tippett, was a Book of the Year in the SPECTATOR, TLS and OBSEVER and won the Storytelling Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society. Soden' s essays and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of publications including the GUARDIAN, LITERARY REVIEW and ART NEWSPAPER. Born in 1990, he grew up in Bath and Sussex, and lives in London. 11 b/w illustrations
Simply unforgettable . . . Oliver Soden has written a little masterpiece . . . The life and times of Jeoffry, the cat described in Smart' s famous poem, are imagined here by Soden in one of the most beautiful and haunting books of recent times. This is a book to savour, reflect upon, and give to friends . . . It is beautifully written. It is gentle. It is full of historical detail and whimsy, in more or less equal measure. It is a complete treat . . . a lovely, enchanting piece of work -- Alexander McCall Smith * author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency * This is an intensely poignant portrait of a celebrated cat. Jeoffry' s tale is both simple, in its feline perspective of eighteenth-century life, and complex, in its vivid detail, so expertly and engagingly marshalled. It is told with vibrant pace and energy, embraces shocking violence and exquisite tenderness, and is bejewelled with a rich cast of cultural luminaries. As we follow the irresistible subject towards and through his interaction with the poet who would give him his immortality, we smell the streets and the confined spaces, we suffer the blows, we weep the tears. This beautifully written and highly affecting book is a must-read for lovers of poetry, of the eighteenth century, and of cats -- Jane Glover, author of Handel in London Jeoffry: The Poet' s Cat is an engrossing recreation of eighteenth-century London at its grittiest, from brothels to insane asylums, as seen through the eyes of a famous cat. The blend of scrupulous scholarship with imaginative invention is wonderfully effective -- Leo Damrosch, author of The Club A bracing and heartfelt scamper through Georgian London, and the life of a much-loved cat - like Jeoffry himself, this delightful book is an irresistible mixture of ' gravity and waggery' . With its supporting cast of eighteenth-century luminaries such as Handel, Dr Johnson and the bloated brothel-keeper Mother Douglas, this is a carefully researched and beautifully imagined feline biography -- Emily Brand * author of The Fall of the House of Byron * An absolute classic . . . Oliver Soden combines the originality of wit and concept found in Virginia Woolf' s Flush with an intimate portrayal of the humanity of a cat that T. S. Eliot understood so well. I found myself so gloriously moved and entertained by Jeoffry who has leapt purring and stretching, hunting and curling his way into my heart -- Juliet Nicolson * author of A House Full of Daughters *
Oliver Soden is a writer and broadcaster. His first book, a biography of the composer Michael Tippett, was a Book of the Year in the Observer, Times Literary Supplement and Spectator. It was shortlisted for the Elizabeth Longford Prize and won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Storytelling. Soden' s essays and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of publications including the Guardian, Literary Review and Art Newspaper. He grew up in Bath and Sussex, and lives in London.
Status: No local stock, title imported to order
ISBN-13: 9780750999311
Published: 24 Feb 2022
Published In: United Kingdom
Imprint: The History Press
Publisher: The History Press
Format: Paperback
Height: 198mm
Width: 129mm
Pages: 208

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