I like to think that tea has super-powers, though I suspect you're right. I also have a typewriter and I LOVE it because it has no blinky cursor to mock me with, just a really satisfying noise when you finish a line :)

The book is The Master and Margerita by Mikhail Bulgakov- it was written in Soviet Russia under Stalin (with the Author hiding in a basement) and it's a mix of a parody of Soviet life and a running commentary on morality. It features the devil and his henchmen wandering around Moscow causing chaos, including the cat (which also steals peoples heads for a laugh). It's utter madness but one of my favourite things ever.