Collections of Nothing - Softcover

King, William Davies

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226437019 ISBN 13: 9780226437019

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2009

Synopsis

Rare Book

About this title

Review:

"A wonderful little book."--Dawoud Bey "Art Talk Chicago "

"King's book is absolutely fascinating. At first I was wary. Was this going to be only a gnarled wry exegesis of a nutty preoccupation? But, rather quickly, he made the collecting an avenue into himself, his life, his world. It finishes as a unique autobiography, in a way quite endearing. And like all the best autobiographies, it is in some measure about the reader himself. The writing is very taking, almost as if it were fashioned by a fine craftsman yet with no sense of effort. Witty, especially perceptive, candid yet with an attractive humility."--Stanley Kauffmann, author of Albums of a Life: A Memoir

"This is one nice writer. . . . We have been treated to a fine and funny, charmingly written and deeply felt portrayal of the human heart. King's is a masterful collection of the different kinds of longing that we know, his world one full of albums waiting to be pasted into, containers wanting something to contain."--Linda McCullough Moore "Books & Culture "

"King's extraordinary book is a memoir served up on the backs of all things he collects. . . . His story starts out sounding odd and singular--who is this guy?--but by the end, you recognize yourself in a lot of what he does."--Julia Keller "Chicago Tribune "

"Collections of Nothing appears on its surface to be a quirky, diverting and playful essay (influenced by Brautigan, Tzara and Joyce), but its autobiographical aspects are anguished in places, and for all its jauntiness of style there can be no happy ending. It is, however, immaculately written and a real pleasure to read."--David Profumo "Literary Review "

"Collections of Nothing is a terrific book. Wonderful and touching, it is informed by a deep sense of emptiness at the heart of materialism that echoes behind the text. It is not an academic book or an argument, but rather a strange hybrid, oscillating between memoir and meditation on collecting. Collectors will understand and empathize with William Davies King, who speaks to and of them."--Jas Elsner, author of Roman Eyes

"Part memoir and part disquisition on the psychological impulses behind the urge to accumulate, Collections of Nothing is a wonderfully frank and engaging look at one man's detritus-fueled pathology. . . . King emerges by book's end a flawed but truly lovable eccentric--an 'antimonk, carefully preserving and sustaining a vital darkness, heavy with various glues, through a forbidding period of enlightenment.' May this darkness reign."

--Henry Alford "New York Times Book Review "

"What makes this book, bred of a midlife crisis, extraordinary is the way King weaves his autobiography into the account of his collection, deftly demonstrating that the two stories are essentially one. . . . His hard-won self-awareness gives his disclosures an intensity that will likely resonate with all readers, even those whose collections of nothing contain nothing at all."--New Yorker

"Through a discussion of the objects he has collected, King portrays what it is to be human, to be confused, to be lonely, to make mistakes, and to try to fix them. At the core of his collecting is the thrill of finding something (or someone) to care about; how one's impulse to label or contain it (or them) is a way of imposing order on the chaos of existence."

--Erika Marie Bsumek "Times Higher Education Supplement "

"Collections of Nothing is a wonderful work of creative nonfiction, a memoir combined with a brilliant dissection of the psychological and consumerist motivations and contexts for collecting (and collecting and collecting) everyday objects. Compellingly self-aware and beautifully written, it marries a well-told analysis of personal, eccentric behavior and an intricate inteweave of larger theories about the drive to accumulate and possess. I thoroughly enjoyed it."

--Rosellen Brown, author of Before and After

About the Author:

William Davies King is professor in the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0226437019
• ISBN 13: 9780226437019
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 170