Things I Didn't Throw Out

Lamps, penknives, paperbacks, mechanical pencils, inflatable headrests. Marcin Wicha's mother Joanna was a collector of everyday objects. She found intrinsic - and often idiosyncratic - value in each item. When she dies and leaves her apartment intact, Wicha is left to sort through her things. The objects are the seemingly ordinary possessions of an ordinary life. But through them, Wicha begins to construct an image of Joanna as a Jewish woman, a mother, and a citizen. As Poland emerged from the Second World War into the material meanness of the Communist regime, shortages of every kind shaped its people in deep and profound ways. What they chose to buy, keep - and, arguably, hoard - tells the story of contemporary Poland. Joanna's Jewishness, her devotion to work, her formidable temperament, her weakness for consumer goods, all accumulate into an unforgettable portrait of a woman and, ultimately, her country. Things I Didn't Throw Out is an intimate, unconventional and very funny memoir about everything we leave behind.

Marcin Wicha was born in Warsaw in 1972. A graphic designer and writer, he is one of Poland's most successful contemporary writers and the author of a number of bestselling children's books, as well the winner of Poland biggest literary prizes for his adult writing. In 2017 he published Rzeczy, których nie wyrzuci?em (Things I Didn't Throw Out), which became a bestseller and won the Polityka Passport award and the prestigious Nike Literary Award.