The Jumble Book Summary
Chapter 1 - Early days - "Whatever I have been doing junk has always been there in the background."
Chapter 2 -Clothes and influences - "My mum encouraged this by bringing bizarre items into our house."
Chapter 3 - Other people - "I'm learning that rummaging is an activity I prefer to do alone."
Chapter 4 - Venues & locations - "In the case of jumble sales, the most common venues are old church halls."
Chapter 5 - Collecting adventures - "Even though we had children , we were still only playing at being grown up."
Chapter 6 - Living in London -"It was surprising to me that a hick from the sticks should have been complimented on my outfit."
Chapter 7 - Junk habit confirmed - "My obsession with junk does not run in the family."
Chapter 8 - Retro clothes - "Being only 19, I was secretly into Glam Rock."
Chapter 9 - Recycling clothes - "I accidently bought a tool - it turned out to be a stitch un-picker."
Chapter 10 -Recycling furniture "I spied a sitting-on-thing - a chair."
Chapter 11 - Punk DIY- "That was it, I liked to shock people."
Chapter 12 - Punk is dead/alive - "After a few drinks the evening ended with everyone shuffling sedately to Sheena is a Punk Rocker by The Ramones."
Chapter 13 - Too many earrings - "No it's not gold - it's rubbish."
Chapter 14 - The advantage of accessories - Staggering across the disco dance floor looking like a cross between Olive Oyl and a paralytic stick-insect."
Chapter 15 - Book Magic - "Smith wondered if Dali was crazy and said are you crazy? No, he said."
Chapter 16 - Analysis of Class - "I had no hang-ups about buying second-hand. I know other people did."
Chapter 17 - Good finds - "And pigs might fly - Well, pigs were certainly airborne that day."
Chapter 18 - Selling out - "In general, antique fairs are snooty and lacking in atmosphere
Chapter 19 - Amazing things - "I use the word artistry because this is an important element of what collecting junk is all about."
Chapter 20 - What to wear - "I want to make it clear, I am not a fashion/style guru."
Chapter 21 - A matter of choice - "These Kappa girls are more sinister than any grandiloquent spectacle Jean Paul Gaultier might send down a catwalk."
Chapter 22 - Collecting mania - "You can bet your royal cypher he didn't have a pair of Kojak underpants on."
Chapter 23 - A similitude of a dream - "I tap the microphone three times ... Raise your glasses please ladies and gentlemen and drink ... to FREEDOM!
Summing up the book later (a few years after completion) I came to the conclusion that it is essentially about anti-materialism, I longed to be free from all that stuff. So, I attempted to free myself (if not literally) then by a dream. I have a party where a gigantic screen plays out a scenario similar to the scene in Michelangelo Antonioni's film Zabriskie Point where all the material matter in a blown-up house is shown against a blue sky to a soundtrack by Pink Floyd. To see the clip of this please press the button below.
The British designer and co-founder of Red or Dead, Wayne Hemingway, kindly read the book. His comment is shown above.
