The Error World: An Affair With Stamps Hardcover – Deckle Edge, January 20, 2009

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...

I like the book not finished with it

An entertaining, well-written, non-fiction read for anyone who collects anything, but especially postage stamps. Rare stamps (in particular, errors) could be considered extreme collecting, and this story is all about that. It is also an insightful self analysis about midlife.

Not sure how I came across this book but I quite enjoyed it. A somewhat eclectic collection of stories relating to stamp collecting and collecting in general. Provided some insight into my own collecting obsessions.

good

I collected stamps once and learned a lot about history, geography, and politics. As Simon Garfield would relate, I mounted my stamps inside one of those common albums, and learned about the politics of the individual country. It really sparked an interest in more things outside of the United States. At the time (60s to 80s), it was still OK to be a stamp collector. However, it is uncommon for popular people to be interested in this great hobby. It is less costly than coin collecting and very enjoyable. I enjoyed Mr. Garfield's take on stamp collecting and his obsession with collecting errors from the 1950-60s QEII era. In the end, he was not hurt financially by his hobby.I liked this book about my former hobby. It explains how other people have also enjoyed stamp collecting.

"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, coloring 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.

I purchased Simon Garfield's memoir after reading an interview with him - something chimed, an addiction to collecting, in his case primarily stamps - in mine - books. Some reviewers point to the book's preoccupation with stamps, and although this is the unifying theme there's also a lot else - as is not always the case with experts - the writing is always interesting, even though I've little interest in stamps, beyond having also collected as a child - my grandmother's bulldog savaged the collection, thereafter I lost interest.For me the book's primary themes are his exploration of the links between collecting and grief - and the meltdown of his marriage. Garfield's specialization is stamp 'errors' and the way in which they are a manifestation of his own pathologies, an area (partially) explored with their marriage guidance counsellor. Garfield doesn't join up all the dots - he leaves an open field as much for himself as for the reader - and as with any counselling / analysis this is as it should be - he has the rest of his life to work this out - at the least he now has the map(s).Many other people appear - David Hockney, Will Self (they used to walk to school together) - a host of eccentric collectors, as well as various personalities he has interviewed in his career as a journalist. He is also interesting on the world of auction houses, as well as buying and selling in general.Did it help with my own addiction? It's clarified the need to focus my collecting - so armfuls of books are now on their way to the charity shop, and I've just ordered another of his books...4.5 stars

I bought this book initially as I was going to a workshop run by the author and was intrigued to find out more about him. The book is engagingly written, and just as with his more recent hit "Just my Type" Simon has a real gift for taking a relatively obscure, dare I say even nerdish topic, and bringing it to life with interesting anecdotes and background stories. I found myself drawn into the narrative and picking up fascinating snippets of information along the way.

Very interesting book , not only about stamps but collecting generally .

excellent

Excellent.

Great book for anyone interested in stamps or has lived in North London. A lot of the characters described were my neighbours ...

Bought as fun birthday present, quick delivery

Stamp literature. Simon Garfield can make any topic exciting.

Received item in good, undamaged condition. Thank you.