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Riverhead Books
September 2009
On Sale: September 17, 2009
288 pages
ISBN: 1594488916
EAN: 9781594488917
Hardcover
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Fiction Family Life
In the tradition of The Orchid Thief, a compelling narrative
set within the strange and genteel world of rare-book
collecting: the true story of an infamous book thief, his
victims, and the man determined to catch him. Rare-book
theft is even more widespread than fine-art theft. Most
thieves, of course, steal for profit. John Charles Gilkey
steals purely for the love of books. In an attempt to
understand him better, journalist Allison Hoover Bartlett
plunged herself into the world of book lust and discovered
just how dangerous it can be. Gilkey is an obsessed,
unrepentant book thief who has stolen hundreds of thousands
of dollars’ worth of rare books from book fairs, stores, and
libraries around the country. Ken Sanders is the
self-appointed “bibliodick” (book dealer with a penchant for
detective work) driven to catch him. Bartlett befriended
both outlandish characters and found herself caught in the
middle of efforts to recover hidden treasure. With a mixture
of suspense, insight, and humor, she has woven this
entertaining cat-and-mouse chase into a narrative that not
only reveals exactly how Gilkey pulled off his dirtiest
crimes, where he stashed the loot, and how Sanders
ultimately caught him but also explores the romance of
books, the lure to collect them, and the temptation to steal
them. Immersing the reader in a rich, wide world of literary
obsession, Bartlett looks at the history of book passion,
collection, and theft through the ages, to examine the
craving that makes some people willing to stop at nothing to
possess the books they love.
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