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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
The story line itself was fascinating. My issue is how long the author dragged out her narrative. I don't feel as though she ever resolved what she was hoping to achieve. It could have been much shorter than it was written.
slow-paced
This book is repetitive and dry. I wouldn't have finished it if I weren't listening on 2.5x speed. It's just Bartlett being surprised that Gilkey committed fraud to steal a book over and over. Gilkey and his crimes weren't interesting enough to warrant an entire book.
This felt like I was skimming the story. It's not exactly a biography of the thief, the story of how he was caught is ultimately only a few pages, and overall it's more like a set of vignettes about the rare book world. Not bad, but not quite what I was expecting.
"Ridiculous crime is... always 99% murder free, and 100% ridiculous."
It's such a goofy crime, and a silly things for people to find so valuable. But also, it makes perfect sense for books to be so valuable. And I do appreciate the way the author also includes showing the impact of Gilkey's crimes on the store owners. Generally a fun time.
It's such a goofy crime, and a silly things for people to find so valuable. But also, it makes perfect sense for books to be so valuable. And I do appreciate the way the author also includes showing the impact of Gilkey's crimes on the store owners. Generally a fun time.
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
This is a wonderful read for anyone who loves books. I was able to relate to so much of what the author was describing. My one criticism would be that it was very obvious this book was stretched from an article into a full-length book. I realize that the subject of the book was probably a pathological liar, but I felt like the details of his life were lacking. I don't feel like I truly knew him. But I suppose that isn't possible with someone like him.
In this book we learn about John Gilkey who loves books way too much. To the point of wanting to own them without paying for them. He used credit card fraud and bad checks to steal quite a lot of rare and important books. Sanders is the man who worked hard to catch Gilkey.
The story was very interesting and I loved the details the author used to flesh out the work. There is quite a bit in here about rare books, those who collect them, what compels them, and just so much more. Just talk about why books matter. Why we are compelled to own them. All of that. I loved this book. And it is a super easy read, so everyone should give it a shot.
In this book we learn about John Gilkey who loves books way too much. To the point of wanting to own them without paying for them. He used credit card fraud and bad checks to steal quite a lot of rare and important books. Sanders is the man who worked hard to catch Gilkey.
The story was very interesting and I loved the details the author used to flesh out the work. There is quite a bit in here about rare books, those who collect them, what compels them, and just so much more. Just talk about why books matter. Why we are compelled to own them. All of that. I loved this book. And it is a super easy read, so everyone should give it a shot.
I don't read as many non-fiction books as I would like, I guess I get burnt out on technical stuff and so this gets pushed to the way side. I enjoyed this book, it was strange still. Two sides of rare book thefts. Gilkey who has stolen tens of thousands of dollars worth of rare books, and Sanders who ran the fraud/theft division of the ABAA
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Not what it says on the tin. The man who loved books too much barely seems to like them at all. The detective is actually a rare book dealer, who sort of accidentally fell into a security side job. There definitely is a world of literary obsession, but you'll only hear tidbits about it between the author's tangents. All in all it seems like a story that would have been adequately covered by an article. The only thing that makes it book length is the author's endless chronicling of her investigations. Protip: the nice thing about you, the author, doing all the research and legwork is that we, the readers, then don't have to. It kinda defeats the point if you write more about your journalistic efforts than about their results.
John Gilkey, the thief, only wanted rare books because they represented the high life to him. It could have just as easily been about fine art, or Faberge eggs. The books he coveted most in fact came from a list of the 100 best books, not his own preference. He didn't even read many of them. Gilkey's actual thefts aren't even terribly impressive, just impressively terrible. No daring break ins, or clever ploys...just lists of credit card numbers he acquired working retail, and a payphone. Ken Sanders, the "detective," is not so much an impassioned super-sleuth as he is a proprietor who (shockingly enough) doesn't like being stolen from.
There is easily enough material out there to write a book about bibliomania; as the author mentions, there are already books on it. I get that she wanted to write more specifically about book theft, but why this thief? I'd wager there's also enough material on book theft in general to write that book, but in it Gilkey would probably be a footnote.
John Gilkey, the thief, only wanted rare books because they represented the high life to him. It could have just as easily been about fine art, or Faberge eggs. The books he coveted most in fact came from a list of the 100 best books, not his own preference. He didn't even read many of them. Gilkey's actual thefts aren't even terribly impressive, just impressively terrible. No daring break ins, or clever ploys...just lists of credit card numbers he acquired working retail, and a payphone. Ken Sanders, the "detective," is not so much an impassioned super-sleuth as he is a proprietor who (shockingly enough) doesn't like being stolen from.
There is easily enough material out there to write a book about bibliomania; as the author mentions, there are already books on it. I get that she wanted to write more specifically about book theft, but why this thief? I'd wager there's also enough material on book theft in general to write that book, but in it Gilkey would probably be a footnote.
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
A book about a book theif, a book dealer turned amateur slueth, a reporter, and their connections to books and the stories that define us.