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Reviews
Stealing the Show: A History of Art and Crime in Six Thefts by Zachary Schisgal, John Barelli
kikithelibrarian's review against another edition
2.0
If you want to learn more about museum security this is your book. If you want to learn about art theft, this is not your book.
blueranger9's review against another edition
4.0
As a NYer, the Met holds a very special place in my heart. It is a refuge for my weary soul, has served as a place that sparks my imagination, and holds adventure for me. I was happy I came across this book as I am a HUGE fan of books dealing with art crime and forgery. The pacing in a few parts is tedious but overall I enjoyed it.
starwing's review against another edition
4.0
A lot more memoir than art crime, but I was fine with that.
As I recently visited the Met for the first time, I really enjoyed the amount of detail about the locations of various events and artifacts in the museum.
I think that the title does not accurately convey how much of this book is a memoir, and so people are reasonably disappointed there is not as much content about the art crimes themselves.
I mostly enjoyed hearing the personal details of the author meeting and working with various people, but I can understand why others found this boring. In terms of the name dropping, I’m pretty sure if I spent a day with Princess Diana I’d be putting that in my own memoir haha, so while it’s a bit pretentious it did not overly bother me.
In my opinion, the interesting parts more than make up for the slower portions. There’s definitely enough about art crime to make it worth reading, and if you’re bored by the personal stories you can always skip those portions.
As I recently visited the Met for the first time, I really enjoyed the amount of detail about the locations of various events and artifacts in the museum.
I think that the title does not accurately convey how much of this book is a memoir, and so people are reasonably disappointed there is not as much content about the art crimes themselves.
I mostly enjoyed hearing the personal details of the author meeting and working with various people, but I can understand why others found this boring. In terms of the name dropping, I’m pretty sure if I spent a day with Princess Diana I’d be putting that in my own memoir haha, so while it’s a bit pretentious it did not overly bother me.
In my opinion, the interesting parts more than make up for the slower portions. There’s definitely enough about art crime to make it worth reading, and if you’re bored by the personal stories you can always skip those portions.
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