The Secret Collector
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The Secret Collector
'Wonderfully drawn characters you really root for . . . a delightfully uplifting story' – Mike Gayle, author of All the Lonely People When an elderly eccentric collector and a troubled teen become each other's only hope of getting their lives back on track, what can possibly go wrong? Alfred is an elderly widower who uses antiques and collectibles to fill the hole in his heart left by his late wife. Kian is a lost teen who has been let down by the care system and finds it difficult staying on the straight and narrow. After Kian throws a brick through Alfred's window, the shock sends Alfred to hospital and a social worker to his home, where his hoarding becomes impossible to ignore. Begrudgingly, and at the request of the authorities, they both agree to enrol Kian on a restorative justice programme, helping to make Alfred’s home liveable again. The only problem: Alfred doesn't want to throw any of his treasures away, and he certainly doesn’t want Kian for company. What unfolds is a surprising and delightful journey of two characters who help each other more than they ever could have anticipated and, along the way, form the unlikeliest of friendships. An uplifting and warm story about friendship across generations, the power of community and finding hope where it had been lost. Perfect for fans of Sally Page’s The Keeper of Stories and Evie Woods's The Lost Bookshop. 'A complete joy' – Alexandra Potter, bestselling author of Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up 'Full of compassion, warmth and insight' – Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us *** Readers LOVE The Secret Collector: 'If there was a moral to this story I think it would be, "It only takes one person who believes in you to change your life"' 'The characters appear so real, and the story with its ups and downs kept me riveted. I couldn't put the book down until the very last page. A book of hope in difficult times' 'My favourite book of the last few years' 'Made me so emotional at times' 'A great book club book' 'I loved this book, it reminded me of Sally Page' 'Heartwarming' 'Cried nearly every chapter, so moving' 'Charming!'
The Secret Collector
There are countless stories of buried, hidden, lost and then "exhumed" artworks, preserved thanks to having been hidden. The Croatian Jew Erich Slomovič possessed an art collection of around 600 paintings, including works by Picasso, Chagall and Matisse, which he acquired while working in Paris in his early twenties as the protégé of the art dealer Ambroise Vollard. When Slomovič fled Paris in anticipation of the Nazi invasion, he placed 190 paintings in a bank vault, while the rest were boxed up and smuggled across Nazi-occupied territories with the assistance of the Yugoslav Embassy, eventually to be brought to Belgrade. Slomovič was arrested shortly after and was killed in a concentration camp, aged 27. His art collection survived far longer. In 1981, the 190 works in the vault in Paris were set to be auctioned off, in lieu of unpaid banking expenses. This prompted Slomovič's descendants into legal action, in opposition to Vollard's heirs, who claimed that Slomovič stole the works from the renowned dealer. The auction of the vault's contents, which were eventually divided among Slomovič's and Vollard's heirs, finally went ahead at Sotheby's in 2010, and the 190 works earned around $30 million. But the 400 or so that made their way back to Belgrade were hidden behind a false wall, in anticipation of the rounding up of Belgrade's Jews, and remained undiscovered throughout the war. After the war, Slomovič's relatives recovered the artworks but died in a train crash while carrying them to Belgrade; the art was described in one account as being scattering across "a muddy field in central Serbia." The works were retrieved and eventually arrived at the National Museum of Belgrade, where they have remained ever since. But there are other versions of this story. It is all ostensibly true, but varies depending on which historical account you read, and who you ask. One alternate version is told in a novelistic style here by Leon Pogelsek, a Slovenian art dealer who personally knew some of the characters involved in the Yugoslav chapter of the story and, indeed, was involved himself-he appears in this story under the pseudonym Leon Sattler. He related his version of the Slomovič story, which remains one of the great mysteries of lost art, to multi-award-winning Slovenian author, Slavko Pregl. The result is the book in your hands. It's a true story to the best knowledge of the authors, but it reads like a novel. Can the lost collection be found? This book is published as part of the ARCA Publications imprint, dedicated to promoting knowledge and awareness of art crime and cultural heritage protection, and with the support of JAK, the Slovenian Book Agency. For more information on ARCA, visit www.artcrimeresearch.org.
The Best of 2600, Collector's Edition
Author: Emmanuel Goldstein
language: en
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Release Date: 2009-01-26
In response to popular demand, Emmanuel Goldstein (aka, Eric Corley) presents a spectacular collection of the hacker culture, known as 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, from a firsthand perspective. Offering a behind-the-scenes vantage point, this book provides devoted fans of 2600 a compilation of fascinating—and controversial—articles. Cult author and hacker Emmanuel Goldstein has collected some of the strongest, most interesting, and often provocative articles that chronicle milestone events and technology changes that have occurred over the last 24 years. He divulges author names who were formerly only known as “anonymous” but have agreed to have their identity revealed. The accompanying CD-ROM features the best episodes of Goldstein’s “Off the Hook” radio shows. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.