Download The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession AudioBook Free
In the tradition of The Orchid Thief, a compelling narrative set within the peculiar and genteel world of rare-book collecting: the real story associated with an infamous publication thief, his victims, and the man determined to catch him.
Rare-book robbery is even more wide-spread than fine-art robbery. Most thieves, of course, steal for earnings. John Charles Gilkey steals purely for the love of literature. In an attempt to understand him better, journalist Allison Hoover Bartlett plunged herself in to the world of publication lust and discovered just how dangerous it could be.
John Gilkey is an obsessed, unrepentant publication thief who may have stolen thousands of dollars price of rare literature from publication fairs, stores, and libraries around the country. Ken Sanders is the self-appointed "bibliodick" (publication dealer with a penchant for detective work) motivated to catch him. Bartlett befriended both outlandish character types and found herself trapped in the center of efforts to recuperate hidden treasure. With an assortment of suspense, insight, and humor, she has woven this engaging cat-and-mouse chase into a narrative that not only unveils exactly how Gilkey taken off his dirtiest crimes, where he stashed the loot, and exactly how Sanders ultimately trapped him but also explores the relationship of literature, the lure to acquire them, and the enticement to take them. Immersing the reader in a abundant, huge world of literary obsession, Bartlett looks at the annals of book passion, collection, and robbery through the age ranges, to examine the craving which makes some people ready to stop at nothing at all to have got the literature they love.
