cantwelljr '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

3.0

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Interesting story but ultimately I feel like the author failed to come to any conclusions. In particular, I'm bothered by the fact that she never did anything about the rare book that she had been 'borrowing'...for 3 years. Also her unwillingness to take any responsibility for knowledge she was gaining of past crimes. She specifically mentions talking to lawyers to make sure she didn't have any legal obligations to report any confessions, but goes on to say that legal and moral obligations aren't the same. We never get an answer from her on that. It's like she realized a little too late that what she was doing was wrong, and then didn't want to back out. More importantly she never comes to any conclusions about her subject either. She tells his story, sort of, but then finds she can't tie up any of the loose ends, so she just leaves it. The book feels unresolved.