The Man Who Loved Books Too Much : The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession

Gossamerchild reviewed 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

Review of 'The Man Who Loved Books Too Much : The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

The story of John Gilkey, rare book thief (as in he steals rare books, not that he's a rare type of book thief!), and Ken Sanders, the "bibliodick" who eventually stopped him. I sort of felt like the book was too short and the author really spent more time describing Gilkey's mental issues than anything else. I really liked how she describes the importance of books as physical objects, a sentiment with which I can completely agree.

Manzabar reviewed 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

Review of 'The Man Who Loved Books Too Much : The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Note: This review is based upon an uncorrected proof which I received via a giveway here on GoodReads.

I don't as a rule read True Crime fiction though I do enjoy a good mystery. So when I saw this book being offered in a giveaway over at GoodReads.com; I felt I just had to enter. Then when I was home sick the other day, the book arrived in the mail. Given I hadn't yet noticed I'd won a copy it was a very pleasant surprise.

I moved the book to the top of my to-read list and once I started on it was glad I had done so. It's strange; there's no quick paced action, no tense drama yet I couldn't put it down. Maybe it was the author's fasincation with Gilkey (the theif) & Sanders (the "bibliodick") or maybe it was the author's own fascination with this private world …

Note: This review is based upon an uncorrected proof which I received via a giveway here on GoodReads.

I don't as a rule read True Crime fiction though I do enjoy a good mystery. So when I saw this book being offered in a giveaway over at GoodReads.com; I felt I just had to enter. Then when I was home sick the other day, the book arrived in the mail. Given I hadn't yet noticed I'd won a copy it was a very pleasant surprise.

I moved the book to the top of my to-read list and once I started on it was glad I had done so. It's strange; there's no quick paced action, no tense drama yet I couldn't put it down. Maybe it was the author's fasincation with Gilkey (the theif) & Sanders (the "bibliodick") or maybe it was the author's own fascination with this private world of rare book dealers. It certainly wasn't the characters that drew me in. Gilkey was given the most "pagetime" but he wasn't very interesting. Simply an unrepentantcrook (all protestations to the contrary) who choose credit card fraud as his easy method of living the good life, which happens to involve owning rare books. Sanders was slightly better but seemed too angry/bitter for much of the book.

While I'm still not sure why I enjoyed this book, it's safe to say it was an good read.