The Collectors: Being Cases mostly under the Ninth and Tenth Commandments

A sequence of short stories, two interludes, a ballade, and a closing essay satirically and sympathetically explores the practices and obsessions of people who acquire art. Episodes range from a candid account of picture forgery and a melodrama over a prized object that brings ruin to well-meaning owners, to encounters with resourceful dealers and duplicitous experts, and the small hypocrisies of collectors. Interspersed reflections offer excuses for the habit while the narratives balance irony and darker consequences, probing taste, authenticity, and the personal costs of possession.