MAGNIFICENT OBSESSIONS: Twenty Remarkable Collectors in Pursuit...

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSIONS: Twenty Remarkable Collectors in Pursuit of Their Dreams by Mitch Tuchman, photographs by Peter Brenner (Chronicle: $19.95; 143 pp., paperback original). During the ‘80s, the definition of a collectible was expanded to encompass anything someone was willing to have around the house in large quantities. These brief, up-beat interviews profile 20 people who collect a variety of off-beat objects, from Studebakers and carousel horses to aquarium figures and toy building sets. Their mania for accumulation seems usually seems harmless, but the woman who’s amassed thousands of souvenir swizzle sticks may lead less sanguine readers to mutter, “Get a life!”