56 | AUGUST 11 • 2022 

D

uring the isolation 
imposed in response 
to COVID, writer 
Suzy Farbman found a way 
to move from feelings of 
listlessness and lethargy and 
share her outlook with others. 
She took on a new project that 
enthusiastically became her 
third book. 
Detroit’s Cass Corridor & 
Beyond: Adventures of an Art 
Collector was released in June 
and was unlike Farbman’s 
two earlier books. The new 
book, part art and part 
memoir, stayed in the realm 
of her happy experiences as a 
collector.
The book is a coffee table 
project mostly showing what 
she collected and the people 

she learned from while putting 
the collection together. The 
intensity began with an 
abstracted rabbit she picked 
out for her husband, Burton, 
to celebrate their 10th wedding 
anniversary. 
 “This is the story of the art 
world I knew,” said Farbman, 
whose own career has included 
stints of writing for the Detroit 
News, Women’s Wear Daily and 
Better Homes and Gardens. Her 
new book is filled with pictures 
of her Franklin home with 
many photos taken by Beth 
Singer.
“An art world less stabilized 
by politics and political 
correctness … A world 
where people felt comfortable 
in crowded galleries and 

museums 
… This is 
the story of 
the Detroit 
I knew and 
wrote about, 
mostly in 
the 1970s 
and ’80s, the art world I 
experienced, the joy I had in 
collecting.”
Farbman, who currently 
writes for the web magazine 
Read the Spirit, tells about the 
spiritual inspirations that move 
people away from difficult 
circumstances. Farbman’s new 
book aims to leave behind the 
feelings expressed in her earlier 
accounts of the most traumatic 
times in her life. 
The first book, Back From 

Betrayal: Saving a Marriage, a 
Family, a Life (2004), recalls a 
battle to resume relationships 
after the discovery of 
infidelity. The second book, 
Godsigns: Health, Hope & 
Miracles, My Journey to Recovery 
(2012), recalls a battle to save 
her life from cancer. 
While each of the earlier 
books took five years to 
write, the most recent was 
completed in one year with 
the help of friends who could 
manipulate the technical side 
of reproducing pictures. It was 
self-published, as were the 
others.
“I love the cover shot and 
the graphics 
of the cover,” 
Farbman said. 
“I like the 
breeziness with 
which the story 
is told.”
Looking 
through the 
pictures in the 
book, seeing 
the art and 
the people 
behind the art, 
helps relate the 
professional 
contacts 
Farbman met 
and befriended 
as she got to 
know the art 
culture of the 
Cass Corridor, near Wayne 
State University. Both the 
design specialists and the 
representative sellers were 
significant, and an index in the 
back of the book helps find the 
images shown.

ALWAYS A COLLECTOR
A cousin, Lydia Winston 
Malbin, introduced Farbman 
to art when Farbman was 16. 
Making their impressions were 
Italian works covering the 

ARTS&LIFE
BOOKS

COURTESY OF SUZY FARBMAN

Suzy Farbman’s new book takes readers 
to the Cass Corridor and beyond.

Adventures of 
an Art Collector

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Details

Detroit’s Cass Corridor 
& Beyond: Adventures 
of an Art Collector is 
available on Amazon in 
hard and soft covers.

An abstract 
rabbit by 
Michael Luchs

Suzy Farbman

