{"product_id":"9781789149500","title":"Serendipity","description":"Author: Carol Mavor\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781789149500\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Reaktion Books\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 01 Jan 2025\u003cbr\u003ePages: 192\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eCarol Mavor\u0026amp;#x27;s first \u0026amp;#x27;happy accident\u0026amp;#x27; occurred in 1980 when visiting New York\u0026amp;#x27;s Serendipity 3, a dessert cafe favoured by Andy Warhol. Mavor\u0026amp;#x27;s memory of eating a frozen hot chocolate became food for thought, nurturing accidental discoveries about art and literature. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book\u0026amp;#x27;s happy, yet dark, accidents include Anne Frank\u0026amp;#x27;s journal, discovered in the Secret Annex after the Second World War; Emily Dickinson\u0026amp;#x27;s poems, scribbled on salvaged envelopes, hidden in a drawer; and Lolita, rescued from incineration by Nabokov\u0026amp;#x27;s wife Vera. Mavor\u0026amp;#x27;s writing is dependent on serendipity\u0026amp;#x27;s layers of happenstance, rousing feelings of something that she did not exactly know she was looking for until she found it. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll history is about loss, and in the case of this book, much of it is tragic  but \u003ci\u003eSerendipity\u003c\/i\u003e also offers the happiness that can be found in unexpected discoveries.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;Welcoming us into the afterlife of the happy accident, Mavor's poetic ruminations reveal a cavalcade of surprising connections between a diverse array of images and objects. In the process, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSerendipity\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e reflects on the magical power of writing itself, on the capacity of the learned essayist to take us on dizzying flights of fancy and into profound depths of understanding.\u0026amp;#x27;  Geoffrey Batchen, professor of history of art, University of Oxford\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46687952011422,"sku":"ADS-9781789149500","price":49.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9781789149500.jpg?v=1775630981","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9781789149500","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}