Cultures of Collecting (Reaktion Books - Critical Views)
The editors have assembled a series of essays on the human propensity to collect and organize whose very diversity of style makes it hard to decide of what value it would be to most libraries. Written by scholars from both sides of the Atlantic, the essays wander superficially through art history, psychoanalysis, literature, world history, and pop culture. Some of the entries are interesting, but most are simply incomprehensible. Too often the bad ones are written in an opaque, academic style that tells little about how certain collections were amassed or what made them noteworthy as collections. Except for scholars used to struggling with "profes-sorspeak," most readers will find this book to be indecipherable and not particularly enlightening. Not recommended.Margarete Gross, Chicago P.L.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.