Carpet Diem: Tales from the World of Oriental Rugs

by George Bradley Narrated by Alex Knox

Overview

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 Bradley's 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 world's 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.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Bradley’s prose is crisp, fresh as a new loaf of bread, and not without a certain elegance of description. . . . The allure of artisanal rugs is afforded the treatment it deserves." — Kirkus Reviews

"Poet Bradley (A Stroll in the Rain) unfurls a rich and surprisingly intimate account of his entry into the world of oriental rug–collecting. . . . Elevated by a poet’s patient attention to detail, it’s a captivating window into the culture and history of an artisanal craft. This will appeal to anyone who’s fallen deeply for a new passion." — Publishers Weekly

“‘It’s sophisticated in conception, harmonious in palette, and meticulously woven, a consummate example of the kind of artifice that is cool and cerebral,’ George Bradley says of a particularly impressive oriental carpet. Much the same can be said of his book, an unexpectedly engaging account of his long fascination with carpets and their cultural history and lore, not to mention his interactions with fellow connoisseurs, dealers, restorers and not a few shady characters playing the trade.... Bradley has plenty to talk about, and weaves it well.” — The Post and Courier

“George Bradley is one of America’s 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 characters—rug hustlers and artisans—but 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 of Constellations: Collected Poems

Kirkus Reviews

2025-03-21
A tale of carpet collecting and its ardent Arabian knights.

“Some achieve addiction, some have addiction thrust upon them,” says Bradley of his adventures and misadventures in oriental rug collecting (“rug” and “carpet” being interchangeable terms). His is an unexpectedly engrossing account of a decades-long preoccupation with carpets, their history and lore, and his interactions with kindred connoisseurs, dealers, restorers, and disreputable players in the trade. A poet, olive oil importer, and former sommelier, Bradley is a member of New York’s Hajji Baba Club, a group devoted to the appreciation and collection of fine rugs, antique and otherwise. With changing tastes, the demand for oriental carpets may not be what it once was—a 17th-century Persian rug fetched $34 million in 2013—but Bradley’s personal journey of discovery, learning, bargaining, acquisition, and lamentation, which began in 2003, is no less fascinating. Even those not immediately drawn to the subject will find his weave hard to resist. Carpet isn’t a product so much as a culture of considerable complexity, and Bradley’s book is an education. His take on the strategies of bargaining—a chess (or fencing) match with feints and misdirection, moves and countermoves—is particularly enjoyable. Fine carpets, says the author, are a testament to painstaking manual skill: “There’s nothing that requires more craftsmanship than weaving a fine oriental carpet….As decorative items, they go in and out of fashion, but collectors have never abandoned them.” Bradley’s prose is crisp, fresh as a new loaf of bread, and not without a certain elegance of description. He can paint vivid word pictures, especially of New England and Asia. Bradley augments his book with engaging asides, a detailed appendix, a glossary of terms, a bibliography, and 11 full-color photographs.

The allure of artisanal rugs is afforded the treatment it deserves.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940191055510
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/27/2025
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos