The stories behind the disappearances of some of our most famous works of art - and some that never existed at all.
The stories behind the disappearances of some of our most famous works of art - and some that never existed at all.
Rick Gekoski is is a rare book dealer, writer, and broadcaster. His previous publications include The Bibliography of William Golding, Staying Up (on Premiership Football), a collection of essays entitled Tolkien's Gown and Other Stories of Great Authors and Rare Books, and Outside of a Dog. He has presented two BBC Radio 4 series: Rare Books, Rare People and Lost, Stolen, or Shredded: The History of Some Missing Works of Art on BBC Radio 4, and was chair of judges for the Man Booker International Prize 2011.
A natural and skilled storyteller
*Colm Toibin*
Think Bill Bryson, only on books
*Tatler*
Praise for Tolkien's Gown:
'Erudite, gossipy and delightfully readable ... If you are
wondering what to buy someone bookish for a present, look no
further than Tolkien's Gown. It's opinionated, it's funny, it's
stuffed full of deliciously arcane trivia. It's a cracker.
*Mail on Sunday*
Praise for Rick Gekoski:
'Gekoski is funny, and it's delightful to read about serious books
and laugh at the same time...every reading is insightful about the
text and moving about people, about the choices that we make, about
love.... Gekoski is endearing to read for his childlike enthusiasm
for ... well, for everything. There is nothing cynical or clever
here, just real intelligence and true feeling - and the sense of
humour.
*The Times*
Extravagantly enjoyable, lively, candid, and wonderfully
well-written.... It is this voice that makes Outside of a Dog so
irresistibly appealing. Rick Gekoski is a superb narrator, vivid,
colloquial, funny and tough. He is an inspiring literary critic,
engaging vigorously with his chosen texts; and he has a novelist's
gift for creating character.
*Spectator*
Outside of a Dog is like Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch without the
football.
*Independent*
Rick Gekoski has done many good things in return for the good
things books have done for him. Not the least is this funny,
touching, rawly candid memoir. I love the man.
*Literary Review*
This is an intelligent, consciously disarming book, packed with
ideas, jokes, good stories, small triumphs and larger regrets.
*Sunday Telegraph*
Rick Gekoski's Tolkien's Gown is an irresistible mix of droll
humour, shrewd literary criticism and fascinating anecdote, by a
dealer in the fetishistic world of modern first editions. The
perfect bedside book for bibliophiles.
*Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year 2004*
It's opinionated, it's funny, it's stuffed full of deliciously
arcane trivia. It's a cracker.
*Mail on Sunday*
Highly entertaining ... One finishes the book exhilarated and
amused.
*Observer*
Rick Gekoski is charming company as a writer. His style is fluent
and raconteur-ish ... A general knowledge-widening book which also
makes you think about what does or doesn't matter in life.
*Country Life*
An engaging and informative window on the impact of major cultural
losses and society's relationship with art
*Canberra Times, Australia*
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