Bøker av Robert Irwin

The Alhambra, the 'red fort' on its rocky hill above Granada, with its fountained courts and gardens, and intricate decoration, has long been a byword for exotic and melancholy beauty. This book examines its history.

Acclaimed historian and novelist Robert Irwin begins his book with a caveat: '[it] will be of little or no practical use or interest to stamp collectors. It does not deal with the subject's practicalities'. Instead, Irwin takes us on a fascinating, wayward journey through a wealth of literary texts that cast a surprising light on stamps and the curious activity of collecting them. Drawing on writers from Sigmund Freud to Ellery Queen, Irwin charts an erudite path that encompasses the psychology and psychopathology of collecting, classification, nostalgia, anal retentiveness, secrecy and subversion, boredom and death. As his sources take him from the colonial history of stamp imagery to the bizarre trade in stamp forgeries, Irwin builds a unique and compelling portrait of the art of collecting, and of himself as collector.

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This is the story of a story that plays out in real life. Tom is a stock controller. Though management of the shelves kept him busy in the daytime, his nights were frightful. Again and again he dreamt of guns, conjuring tricks, car chases, burials, disinterments, Martian landscapes and Molly. Tom is new to the Story as it was known to the sinister crew who first appeared in The Runes Have Been Cast. They make their reappearance in this new novel... Molly is a hoplophiliac, Quentin is the sort of person who knows what a hoplophiliac is (someone who likes the use of guns in sex), Lancelyn is terrified of women, Jaimie has committed murder in order to understand what it is like to be evil, Ferdie is a conjuror with bad breath, Bernard is an expert on ghost stories, Mortimer is a thug who works at the The Times Literary Supplement. But Tom is just so ordinary (apart from his visions of Fairyland). Hovering in the background are the ghostly presences of St Ignatius of Loyola, St Joseph of Copertino, Robert Louis Stevenson and M.R. James. Tom's Version is a lament for the sixties and then a mad race towards old age and death.

A panoramic vision of Islamic cultures and societies from the origins of Islam to 1800.

The Runes Have Been Cast is a black comedy of darkest hue about academic and literary life set in Oxford and St Andrews in the early 60s. A tin of alphabet spaghetti brought about Lancelyn's first encounter with the apparently supernatural. Unfortunately it was not to be his last. Runes, ghosts and spaghetti apart, there is much for Lancelyn to be afraid of: the future, women, Critical Theory, sex romps, The Times' crossword puzzle, succubi and creative writing classes. The pages of The Runes Have Been Cast are haunted by M.R. James, Thomas de Quincey, Mr. Raven, St. Ignatius of Loyola, Iron Foot Jack, J.R.R. Tolkien and an anonymous tramp. "I do not think that I can have read a novel which makes so many references to actual works that I have never heard off. With a fairly complex plot, ghosts popping in and out, strange but colourful academics, much mirth and mockery, two young men too full of themselves, a rampaging sex goddess, lots of interesting books and authors, intertextuality galore, the idea of God as a novelist, immersive literature and Tolkien and his bloody elves, this book is a thoroughly enjoyable read." -John Alvey in The Modern Novel

Presents a system that walks readers through their first real estate purchase and helps them build on that success.

Condos, co-ops, and townhouses account for more than one-third of real estate sales in the United States. This book covers the bases to help readers navigate the process of buying into a shared-ownership development.

A home closing is fraught with arcane rituals, hidden traps and pitfalls, and confusing legal terminology. This book leads you step by step through the different stages of your closing, from making an offer of purchase to slipping a new set of keys onto your key ring. It's also loaded with checklists, pointers, advice, and several useful tips.

The guide millions of "underwater" homeowners have been waiting for

A comprehensive guide to protecting and increasing home investment value. It contains information you need to move in, financially operate, and maintain your first home. It provides practical, real-world advice that shows ways to maximize investment expenditures, including minimizing taxes, timing refinancing, and more.

Filled with checklist questions that every person who attempts a home renovation, big or small, should ask, this resource provides the appropriate answer - complete with cost and time estimates.

These texts cover a diverse terrain such as the lessons of modern art, Irwin's philosophy of teaching, and his understanding of art as a form of pure inquiry, presenting the reader with an overview of his unique perspective within the broad discourse of postwar American art.

Fully revised and expanded edition of the classic bestselling guide to negotiating every aspect of any real estate transaction.

Shows buyers and investors where to look for good deals in real estate. This book helps you learn how to get in on the ground floor of a foreclosure by working directly with the seller; uncover the ins and outs of buying at auctions; and discover the multitude of financing options available to you.

With long-term, unconventional financing strategies, homeownership is within your reach. This book shows you how to turn your rent money into a new home, whether you're a single professional, young family, and or are living on a budget, using lease options and other overlooked purchasing tactics.

A guide to use no-money-down financing to build long-term wealth. It shows how to find deals on properties and finance them with little - or even none - of your own money. It tells on how lower transaction costs; avoid the trap of negative cash flow; use tax laws to your advantage; and finance renovations to increase the value of your property.

A distinct symbol of the desert and the Middle East, the camel was once unkindly described as half snake, half folding bedstead. But in the eyes of many the camel is a creature of great beauty. This book explores why the camel has fascinated so many cultures, including those in places where camels are not indigenous.

The classic guide to getting the best deal when buying a home--from America's #1 real estate expert

Presents a guidance to career success. This title shows you, as a new agent, how to establish yourself in the real estate business. It provides advice on what to do and how to get ahead each step of the way.

Robert Irwin s history of Orientalism leads from Ancient Greece to the present. He shows that, whether making philological comparisons between Arabic and Hebrew, cataloguing the coins of Fatimid Egypt or establishing the basic chronology of Harun al-Rashid s military campaigns against Byzantium, scholars have been unified not by politics or ideology but by their shared obsession. For Lust of Knowing is an extraordinary, passionate book, both a sustained argument and a brilliant work of original scholarship.

Spanning the fifth century to the sixteenth, and ranging from Afghanistan to Spain, this unique collection provides a profound insight into the sheer vitality and depth of Classical Arabic literature. From the earliest surviving fragments of The Thousand and One Nights to the elegant beauty and profound power of the Qur'an - believed by the Islamic faith to contain the actual words of Allah - it includes translated extracts from all the major works of the period, alongside many less well-known but equally fascinating pieces. Exploring such traditional themes as lovesick yearning and fated doom, and considering subjects as diverse as the etiquette of falling in love with slave-girls and the terrors of the sea, this compelling anthology of poetry and prose brilliantly illuminates a body of writing that has been unjustly neglected by the west for centuries.

"The Arabian Nights" has become a synonym for the fabulous and the exotic. Many people are familiar with the stories of Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba. Yet few people have a clear idea of when the book was written or what exactly it is. This companion seeks to remedy this.