Carpet Diem chronicles Bradley’s exploration of the world of oriental carpets, an exploration in which he falls in love with a variety of captivating rugs and learns about the cultural  background of the people who made them. A journey from innocence to experience, his entertaining account includes his encounters with the dealers, collectors, scroungers, restorers, and connoisseurs who inhabit a secretive and sometimes shady milieu. As he brings together his own story with those of these characters, he tells also some of the history of what is one of the world’s great artforms. Like Scheherazade, Bradley spins tale after tale about the sort of  gorgeous textiles found on the floors of mansions across Europe and America, in the portraits of Titian and Vermeer, in the faraway caves of Central Asia, and in bespoke shops of Manhattan, the Hamptons, and Connecticut.