{ "item_title" : "The Madman's Guide to Stamp Collecting", "item_author" : [" Robert Irwin "], "item_description" : "A fascinating, one-of-a-kind journey through the obsessive world of collecting (and stamps) by maverick historian and cult writer Robert Irwin. A] delightful mishmash of quotations, digressions, obscure facts, arcane anecdotes and playful romps. -- Literary Review Why do we collect? Is it to rescue objects from oblivion? Is it a kind of desire--or even a kind of madness? Robert Irwin--novelist, historian, translator, collector--was a true original; a virtuoso thinker who combined encyclopaedic knowledge with boundless curiosity. In this 'mosaic of fiction, philosophy, sociology, biography and autobiography' he takes us on a wayward journey through the art of collecting, and his own intellectual passions. Drawing on a treasure-trove of literary references from writers including Susan Sontag, Walter Benjamin, Iris Murdoch and Georges Perec, as well as a host of lesser-known geniuses, flaneurs, obsessives and eccentrics, Irwin explores everything from mysticism to nostalgia, psychology to propaganda, classical antiquity to surrealism, dreams to death. We join Thomas De Quincey on a night mail coach, encounter the man who set out to acquire every stamp ever issued, enter the shadowlands of long-vanished kingdoms and the badlands of fakes and forgeries, all in the company of a uniquely brilliant mind. This is a one-of-a-kind book of wonders; of labyrinthine digressions, good humour and a 'delight in small things'. It is a satisfying and unforgettable meditation on the stuff of life.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers1.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/1/80/533/776/1805337769_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "17.95", "online_price" : "17.95", "our_price" : "17.95", "club_price" : "17.95", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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