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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
Fascinating story about a prolific book thief. The author's interviews with him make him seem very intitled and not remorseful for stealing rare & first-edition books, often by using other people's credit cards. He felt he deserved to have rare books, he just couldn't afford them so he took them.
I also found it interesting that he had always wanted a huge library, walls covered in books, as he felt it was a status symbol for success. I love the idea of a wall of bookshelves too, but thank goodness, I'm not going to go steal books to achieve that! Highly interesting read on an unusual obession/addiction.
I also found it interesting that he had always wanted a huge library, walls covered in books, as he felt it was a status symbol for success. I love the idea of a wall of bookshelves too, but thank goodness, I'm not going to go steal books to achieve that! Highly interesting read on an unusual obession/addiction.
This book is about obsessions and addictions and a whole rare book collecting culture I had no idea about.
Interesting. I will think about this often, if for no other reason than that the man's motivations are so intriguing. What a peculiar story!
3.5 stars. I took a while to read this one. It was informative about a whole new world to me - rare books, their dealers, and their thieves! It had my attention at the beginning, but it slowly waned. I don’t think it was necessarily the book, perhaps just me and my like of the subject. I did disagree with the author and her decisions at some points in the book (she is one of the main characters in her telling of this story and this book thief). Overall, a good read!
My notes on the book as posted on BookCrossing (this book was received as part of a bookring):
A really quick and compelling read that I quite enjoyed. I was delighted to find out that the "bibliodick" in the book had once been the owner of Cosmic Airplane in Salt Lake City -- a place I heard legends about growing up in Utah, but never got to visit. I found that I related to him quite well, to the author not as much, and to Gilkey the book thief not at all.
I was surprised, because the premise of the title is that he loved books too much, something that I (and I'm sure many fellow BookCrossers) would not have dreamed possible. But I really came away thinking that he loved himself too much -- he felt entitled to have the books that he wanted simply because he wanted them. For all my love of books and my obsessive pursuit of them, I have never stolen a book or even considered it. I would sooner rob a grave -- it just seems so wrong to me to taint something as precious as a book by stealing it. Gilkey did not see things the same way -- he wants the books and he thinks he should have them, plain and simple. And every time he is thwarted in his pursuit of stolen books even the least little bit -- by a dealer who doesn't answer the phone when he calls to inquire about the inventory -- he feels completely justified in stealing a book from the person who thwarted him. Clearly his parents did not raise him with any values, as evidenced by their complicity in his crimes, nor did they teach him the value of earning something vs deserving it.
I am impressed that this is the author's first book and look forward to reading many others by her. She has a great conversational style and is willing to reveal her own personal demons and confusion which allows you into the story in a very real way. Like her, I will always be more attached to books for their stories (the ones on the page and the ones about how the book came into my hands) than for their value or rarity, but I enjoyed getting to know more about the world of rare and antique books.
A really quick and compelling read that I quite enjoyed. I was delighted to find out that the "bibliodick" in the book had once been the owner of Cosmic Airplane in Salt Lake City -- a place I heard legends about growing up in Utah, but never got to visit. I found that I related to him quite well, to the author not as much, and to Gilkey the book thief not at all.
I was surprised, because the premise of the title is that he loved books too much, something that I (and I'm sure many fellow BookCrossers) would not have dreamed possible. But I really came away thinking that he loved himself too much -- he felt entitled to have the books that he wanted simply because he wanted them. For all my love of books and my obsessive pursuit of them, I have never stolen a book or even considered it. I would sooner rob a grave -- it just seems so wrong to me to taint something as precious as a book by stealing it. Gilkey did not see things the same way -- he wants the books and he thinks he should have them, plain and simple. And every time he is thwarted in his pursuit of stolen books even the least little bit -- by a dealer who doesn't answer the phone when he calls to inquire about the inventory -- he feels completely justified in stealing a book from the person who thwarted him. Clearly his parents did not raise him with any values, as evidenced by their complicity in his crimes, nor did they teach him the value of earning something vs deserving it.
I am impressed that this is the author's first book and look forward to reading many others by her. She has a great conversational style and is willing to reveal her own personal demons and confusion which allows you into the story in a very real way. Like her, I will always be more attached to books for their stories (the ones on the page and the ones about how the book came into my hands) than for their value or rarity, but I enjoyed getting to know more about the world of rare and antique books.
I don't really even like non-fiction, but loved this book about a guy who loved collecting first editions. He didn't have the money to buy them, so he just stole them!!! ha. Crazy, but if you've ever been to the San Francisco Antiquarian bookfair, you sympathize!! I've bought a few books from one of the main characters, Ken Sanders, and been to this fair many times before. Seriously gave me the book collecting bug again. Too bad I don't have any money and I'm too scrupulous to copy this guy's crimes!!
A non-fiction, which I normally don't read, but very interesting book about the world of rare books and rare book collectors. Gilkey, a thief, loves rare books, but he can't afford them. In his mind, he must steal them because he can't afford them, and who are all these dealers to keep these books from him simply because he doesn't have enough money? I guess that's the way most thieves think. I'm surprised I kept reading this, and it's not the kind of book I'd recommend to anyone, but I did enjoy it.
I liked this! Interesting to read a book about books and thievery.
informative
mysterious
fast-paced