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wombat929 's review for:
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession
by Allison Hoover Bartlett
Bartlett chronicles the world of rare and antique book collecting through the eyes of two men deeply embedded in it. The first, John Gilkey, is an unrepentant con man who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of rare books from dealers all over the country, mostly through credit card fraud. The second, Ken Sanders, was the chief of security for the American Book Dealers' Association, and the prime mover in the force that caught up with Gilkey. It's an interesting story that asks why a man would steal these books not for financial gain, but for the collection itself.
A few thoughts:
Bartlett worries throughout the book about the ethics of spending so much time with a thief, of learning some of his secrets that might allow him to be prosecuted, and of the impression she gives to others in hanging out with him. But she never backs away from the stark depiction of him as an unrepentant thief, and it does her credit.
The book spends a lot of time on the culture of book collecting and its attendant addiction, bibliomania. Apparently, the desire to collect ancient and rare books has been thriving for centuries. I can completely understand the desire to get more books, and more after that. As a man with well over 2000 books in my basement, I suffer from the same mania myself, perhaps. Thank goodness I don't aspire to have first editions or rare books, at least not much.
It's distressing how easily Gilkey is able to steal from these shops, but often they bring it upon themselves with the relatively lax security they use--often taking phone orders and never asking to see the card, for instance. At the same time, it seems like the credit card company should bear SOME of the blame if the card comes back as fraudulent when the charge went through the first time around.
The tales of Ken Sanders' efforts to catch Gilkey are pretty darn interesting, though one would like them to be a bit more satisfying in the end--so few of the books Gilkey stole have been recovered, the tale doesn't end with the justice we'd hope to see.
I suppose it's the similar subject and narrative style, but this book reminded me a lot of This Book is Overdue! by Marilyn Johnson, the book about how librarians and cybrarians are saving us all. In essence, the only connection between these two books is the fact that they're about people who love books, but it was enough that I spent my entire reading convinced that Barlett was the author of both books.
Overall, it's a decent read. It's not quite as intense as the subtitle would make it seem, and there's relatively little in the way of cloak-and-dagger excitement. But if you collect books or find yourself wishing you had a shelf full of dusty tomes, this might be your kind of tale.
A few thoughts:
Bartlett worries throughout the book about the ethics of spending so much time with a thief, of learning some of his secrets that might allow him to be prosecuted, and of the impression she gives to others in hanging out with him. But she never backs away from the stark depiction of him as an unrepentant thief, and it does her credit.
The book spends a lot of time on the culture of book collecting and its attendant addiction, bibliomania. Apparently, the desire to collect ancient and rare books has been thriving for centuries. I can completely understand the desire to get more books, and more after that. As a man with well over 2000 books in my basement, I suffer from the same mania myself, perhaps. Thank goodness I don't aspire to have first editions or rare books, at least not much.
It's distressing how easily Gilkey is able to steal from these shops, but often they bring it upon themselves with the relatively lax security they use--often taking phone orders and never asking to see the card, for instance. At the same time, it seems like the credit card company should bear SOME of the blame if the card comes back as fraudulent when the charge went through the first time around.
The tales of Ken Sanders' efforts to catch Gilkey are pretty darn interesting, though one would like them to be a bit more satisfying in the end--so few of the books Gilkey stole have been recovered, the tale doesn't end with the justice we'd hope to see.
I suppose it's the similar subject and narrative style, but this book reminded me a lot of This Book is Overdue! by Marilyn Johnson, the book about how librarians and cybrarians are saving us all. In essence, the only connection between these two books is the fact that they're about people who love books, but it was enough that I spent my entire reading convinced that Barlett was the author of both books.
Overall, it's a decent read. It's not quite as intense as the subtitle would make it seem, and there's relatively little in the way of cloak-and-dagger excitement. But if you collect books or find yourself wishing you had a shelf full of dusty tomes, this might be your kind of tale.