The Book Collector, Tony Eyre
Publication date 20th September 2023
RRP $45.00, hardback, 292pp
ISBN: 9781991179876
“This book is like a visit to the very best bookshop, in the company of the very best guide. Tony Eyre shares his lifelong passion for books, reading them, collecting them, telling the stories of their writers and the second-hand book shops and book sellers who keep those books in circulation. The result is a delight: a memoir that is personable, digressive, funny and profoundly moving.”
The Book Collector is a fascinating bibliomemoir of the writer’s lifetime joy of reading, the books and authors that have touched him, and how they have shaped his passion for book collecting.
Step into his library, where the book is ‘a tangible object of sentiment and delight’ and experience his fondness for New Zealand literature as well as a great many of the world’s most celebrated writers. Then follow this wandering bibliophile as he takes you on a personal journey of search and discovery to second-hand bookshops around Aotearoa New Zealand and further afield, to the community book fairs and charity shops, and into the online world of books.
The Book Collector is an enjoyable and thoroughly engaging read, packed full of stories, personal observations, useful information and splashes of humour, inviting the reader to further explore what our often neglected New Zealand literature has to offer.
About the author
Tony Eyre, born in 1953, grew up in Auckland before moving to Dunedin in 1978. As a Chartered Accountant for over 50 years, he has had a particular interest in the creative sector, supporting arts practitioners and serving on the boards of various arts related organisations.
Tony is a strong advocate of Dunedin as a UNESCO City of Literature and has been active in promoting the Dunedin Writer’s Walk, the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival and is currently Chair of the Dunedin Athenaeum Library.
As a writer, he has a special interest in creative non-fiction. He has written for magazines and has had numerous opinion pieces and feature articles published in the Otago Daily Times.
Tony is married to Yvonne Fogarty, and they have four adult children and seven grandchildren. The Book Collector is Tony’s first book.
“There are few true believers so agreeable to be cornered by as life-long book collectors. I love the sense of sharing that so drives Tony Eyre ’s passion for the book he is after, the right edition, the original jacket, the set he longs to complete. How good to be reminded of what books can be to anyone devoted to them, and the dedicated hunt to read them, handle them, in fact revere them, as part of our lives. This is the book to remind you of all that.”
“Tony Eyre takes readers on a magical tour of a myriad range of second-hand bookshops in this elegantly written account of his life’s passion – book collecting and reading. He also adds much to our understanding of the history of New Zealand writing and the importance of place in shaping childhood and adult lives. This absorbing narrative will be a compelling read for anyone searching for exciting book discoveries.”
Tony is available for interview.
For media queries, review and giveaway copies, extracts and interviews, please contact publicist:
Karen McKenzie, 027 693 9044, karen@lighthousepr.co.nz, www.lighthousepr.co.nz