Observer feature writer Garfield (Private Battles, 2006, etc.)
examines his passion for stamp collecting.The veteran British
author begins in late 2006, when he was on "the brink of ruin." He
was in debt; his marriage had collapsed; he was involved in an
affair with a woman from his past. And philately was the proximate
- though not, he reveals later, the ultimate - cause of all this.
As Garfield slowly unspools the story of his rise and fall, he
detours frequently to zoom in on areas of stamp collecting's
increasingly unfamiliar map. (Today's young people don't seem
interested in the hobby, he notes.) He sketches the history of the
postage stamp, interviews a former U.K. Postmaster General, visits
stamp dealers and authorities, attends auctions, glances at how
various writers (e.g., Philip Roth, Louise Erdrich) have used
philately in their fiction, notes that celebrities like John Lennon
have been collectors and examines stamps-never-issued in the Royal
Mail Archive. Garfield began collecting as a boy, he says, then
gave it up as an adolescent and young man, but returned to it, with
renewed vigor, in his 40s. He made substantial purchases (concealed
from his wife) and became obsessed with "error stamps," those with
printing or production mistakes that elevated their value,
sometimes enormously. He eventually credits Freud for helping him
understand that his collecting was a form of compensation for the
untimely losses of his father to a heart attack, his mother to
cancer and his brother to viral pneumonia. Garfield depicts his
marital infidelity in the same, vaguely self-serving light - and,
of course, the flaws on his beloved stamps are analogous to those
in his character. He eventually sold his most valuable stamps and
paid some debts.The author's enthusiasm does not prove contagious.
(Kirkus Reviews)
When he was very young, Simon Garfield lusted after rare stamps but
could not afford them. When he was older, the passion reignited
with almost ruinous results. The Error World is an examination of
obsession and desire, and the search for fulfilment. But it is also
a story of wooden legs, pornography in the Finchley Road, Pele's
World Cup shirt, the man who guards stamps for the Queen, and a
woman who is terrified of the Post Office Tower.
General
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