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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"Little do wives know how much men spend on their hobbies. But my wife is about to find out." After reading these two opening sentences, you just have to find out what happens next, especially as the words "marriage guidance counsellor's house" follow them very closely. Simon Garfield's weakness is stamp-collecting, a hobby he began in his childhood and rediscovered in middle age, much to the detriment, it seems, of his bank account. His main philatelic pursuit is for errors: stamps suffering from printing mishaps. A colour missing here, the Queen's head missing there - rare, often valuable, often expensive to acquire and plainly irresistible to the committed collector.
To someone who, like me, has no interest in stamp-collecting, the prospect of reading a book such as this might seem a little daunting. But this is not just some worthy tome written in the fusty code of those already in the know. Part memoir, part journalism, part social history, this is an engaging and often funny read.
On more than one occasion, the author worries about the apparent decline in his hobby. Stamp-collecting is not cool these days; there are not many iconic footballers who admit to an interest in philately. Reassurance that he is not alone in his collector mania has Garfield on the look out for similarly afflicted people. We learn of a man who collects light bulbs, and of a well-known British wrestler's collection of rusting cars.
Garfield's childhood memories contain a rich seam of anecdote: "In 1968 I had a crush on a girl who was frightened of the Post Office Tower," begins one excursion into the past. And there are some wonderfully funny teenage reminiscences about furtive visits to the grubby rear section of a bookshop in the Finchley Road. Here, well-thumbed second-hand copies of various men's magazines were available ("`Men Only', `Club International' `Health & Efficiency' at the last resort"), the owner turning a blind eye to his underage patrons.
There are also some interesting interviews included. Among them is one with a woman who, as a child, won a `design a stamp' competition on television's `Blue Peter'. Garfield had also entered the competition and fully expected to win it.
The postal reformer, Rowland Hill, seems to be a bit of a hero to the author. Garfield has included a small biography of the great man, colouring it with some fascinating British social history on the effects of the introduction of the postage stamp.
It would be stretching it a bit to label this book as stamp-collecting's answer to Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, but Simon Garfield manages to take a dull (for us non philatelists) subject and imbue it with warmth and wit as he marks out his life with constant reference to his collection. I must admit, I did feel a little jaded towards the end of the book. The constant conversations and meetings with dealers in his search for an illusive item began to pall. Overall, though, this is a splendid read and, if you're looking for something a little different, this may well fit the bill.
To someone who, like me, has no interest in stamp-collecting, the prospect of reading a book such as this might seem a little daunting. But this is not just some worthy tome written in the fusty code of those already in the know. Part memoir, part journalism, part social history, this is an engaging and often funny read.
On more than one occasion, the author worries about the apparent decline in his hobby. Stamp-collecting is not cool these days; there are not many iconic footballers who admit to an interest in philately. Reassurance that he is not alone in his collector mania has Garfield on the look out for similarly afflicted people. We learn of a man who collects light bulbs, and of a well-known British wrestler's collection of rusting cars.
Garfield's childhood memories contain a rich seam of anecdote: "In 1968 I had a crush on a girl who was frightened of the Post Office Tower," begins one excursion into the past. And there are some wonderfully funny teenage reminiscences about furtive visits to the grubby rear section of a bookshop in the Finchley Road. Here, well-thumbed second-hand copies of various men's magazines were available ("`Men Only', `Club International' `Health & Efficiency' at the last resort"), the owner turning a blind eye to his underage patrons.
There are also some interesting interviews included. Among them is one with a woman who, as a child, won a `design a stamp' competition on television's `Blue Peter'. Garfield had also entered the competition and fully expected to win it.
The postal reformer, Rowland Hill, seems to be a bit of a hero to the author. Garfield has included a small biography of the great man, colouring it with some fascinating British social history on the effects of the introduction of the postage stamp.
It would be stretching it a bit to label this book as stamp-collecting's answer to Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, but Simon Garfield manages to take a dull (for us non philatelists) subject and imbue it with warmth and wit as he marks out his life with constant reference to his collection. I must admit, I did feel a little jaded towards the end of the book. The constant conversations and meetings with dealers in his search for an illusive item began to pall. Overall, though, this is a splendid read and, if you're looking for something a little different, this may well fit the bill.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Another reviewer of this book on AmazonUSA - who gave the book three stars - asks a question of what "conceit" a person has to have to think their lives are interesting enough to write a memoir and have other people pay money to read it. It's a good question - very good, and thank you "Mendicant Pigeon" for asking it - and actually applies to any memoir, not just this one.
Simon Garfield has written many interesting books about a variety of subjects - ranging from the color mauve to AIDS in Britain to attitudes in Britain during and after WW2 to his latest, a book on type fonts. He's a clever writer about subjects that are not of general interest but are of interest to a large enough subset of readers who have the coin to buy his books and the time to read them. Along the way, he managed in his personal life to lose three members of his family - parents and older brother in the span of a few years - and to marry, father two sons, and then have an affair and divorce his wife. During this busy time, he also collected stamps - off and on - and returned to his collecting ways during his marital problems.
Okay, returning to Mendicant's question, is this the stuff of memoir? To me the answer is "yes", because this is Simon Garfield's memoir and he has addressed odd stuff before - though not in a personal way of a memoir. Memoirs are "sticky wickets", the author must know that most people don't much care about an author's life and attendant joys and woes. If it's a famous person - say Bill Clinton - there's more interest in the memoir because he's FAMOUS. (As an aside, as much as I liked Bill Clinton, I found his memoir one-big-yawn because he seemed to include everything with little editing. I like "editing"...) The best memoirs - to me, at least - are those by little-known people. We don't go into them with any preconceived notion of the person we're reading about.
So, yes, I think Simon Garfield's memoir, "The Error World: An Affair about Stamps, is a well-written read. If you care in the very least about the intricacies of stamp collecting - actually, about collecting anything - and don't mind reading about a man's mid-life crisis being told in the terms of stamp collecting, this is a book for you. If you don't care a bit about mid-life crises, then don't pick this book up. It's actually very easy.
And thanks again, Mendicant, for asking...
Simon Garfield has written many interesting books about a variety of subjects - ranging from the color mauve to AIDS in Britain to attitudes in Britain during and after WW2 to his latest, a book on type fonts. He's a clever writer about subjects that are not of general interest but are of interest to a large enough subset of readers who have the coin to buy his books and the time to read them. Along the way, he managed in his personal life to lose three members of his family - parents and older brother in the span of a few years - and to marry, father two sons, and then have an affair and divorce his wife. During this busy time, he also collected stamps - off and on - and returned to his collecting ways during his marital problems.
Okay, returning to Mendicant's question, is this the stuff of memoir? To me the answer is "yes", because this is Simon Garfield's memoir and he has addressed odd stuff before - though not in a personal way of a memoir. Memoirs are "sticky wickets", the author must know that most people don't much care about an author's life and attendant joys and woes. If it's a famous person - say Bill Clinton - there's more interest in the memoir because he's FAMOUS. (As an aside, as much as I liked Bill Clinton, I found his memoir one-big-yawn because he seemed to include everything with little editing. I like "editing"...) The best memoirs - to me, at least - are those by little-known people. We don't go into them with any preconceived notion of the person we're reading about.
So, yes, I think Simon Garfield's memoir, "The Error World: An Affair about Stamps, is a well-written read. If you care in the very least about the intricacies of stamp collecting - actually, about collecting anything - and don't mind reading about a man's mid-life crisis being told in the terms of stamp collecting, this is a book for you. If you don't care a bit about mid-life crises, then don't pick this book up. It's actually very easy.
And thanks again, Mendicant, for asking...
2 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"Error World" by Simon Garfield
I collect stamp errors so could relate well to the author.
A very enjoyable read.
I collect stamp errors so could relate well to the author.
A very enjoyable read.
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