Carpet Diem: Tales from the World of Oriental Rugs

(Hardback)

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Description

A colorful tour through the enthralling world of oriental carpets and its unusual characters that is also an honest and often humorous meditation about beautiful objects and our impulse to collect them.

One day, the prizewinning poet George Bradley happened to take note of a carpet that had lain beneath his feet for decades. Carefully studying its weave and pattern, he was astonished by its complexity and allure. He became suddenly fascinated, and his newfound curiosity about oriental rugs sent him on a thrilling adventure, introducing him to a little-known realm in which beauty, artistry, business, and history collide.

Carpet Diem chronicles Bradleys exploration of the world of oriental carpets, one in which he falls in love with a variety of captivating rugs and learns about the cultural background of the people who made them. A journey from innocence to experience, this entertaining account includes his encounters with the dealers, collectors, scroungers, restorers, and connoisseurs who inhabit an exotic and sometimes shady milieu. As he brings together his own story with those of these characters, he also tells some of the history of what is one of the worlds great art forms. Like Scheherazade, Bradley spins tale after tale about the sorts of gorgeous textiles found on the floors of mansions across Europe and America, in the portraits of Titian and Vermeer, in the faraway caves of Central Asia, and in bespoke shops of Manhattan, the Hamptons, and Westport, Connecticut.

A narrative that combines the mesmerizing storytelling found in The Arabian Nights with the pilgrimage into history that unfolds in The Silk Road and the dramatic compulsion to possess rare elegance that propels The Orchid Thief, Carpet Diem is an unusual and charming memoir that testifies to the intricate beauty woven into our world.

Carpet Diem features eleven full-color photographs throughout.

Reviews

George Bradley is one of Americas finest living poets, and what makes his poetry so remarkable is its combination of offhand fluency and grammatical sophistication and the accuracy and felt reality of his observations.These qualities inform Carpet Diem as well, bringing to life the vivid world of oriental rugs and instilling in the reader an insatiable desire to live in their daily presence, and the pleasure of immersing oneself in each page and reading on. John Koethe, author of Beyond Belief and Walking Backwards "The journey from innocence to experience, from wide-eyed wonder to shrewd wisdom, rarely has been depicted so eloquently. Along the way Bradley meets colorful charactersrug hustlers and artisansbut none more engaging than the writer himself. Bold yet self-effacing, he has descriptive powers matching the glory of his subject. This book is as finely wrought and enchanting as the best Persian carpet." Daniel Mark Epstein, author ofConstellations: Collected Poems

Author Bio

George Bradley is an American poet, translator, and fiction writer. His books of verse include Terms to Be Met, A Few of Her Secrets, and A Stroll in the Rain. He is a longtime collector of oriental carpets and lives in Chester, Connecticut.