The Man Who Loved Books Too Much

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
John Gilkey has stolen more than $100,000 worth of rare books in the past 15 years. Ken Sanders, a rare books dealer in Utah, is the former security chairman of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and the detective who has been obsessively tracking Gilkey for nearly as long as the thief has been stealing. Both are motivated by their love of books and Bartlett does a great job of revealing that drive exploring the world of all bibliophiles. Seeing Gilkey's criminal methods (most of his books were bought with stolen credit card numbers) was eye-opening for me and I shared Sanders' dismay at how little interest the police take in catching rare book thieves. Gilkey has spent quite a bit of time in prison, but by the end of the book it's clear that he's still hungry for more books. Most unsettling for librarians is the little he tells of visiting the San Francisco Public Library. He comes short of talking about stealing any books (though he does admit to taking a map and a few book jackets), but it leads Bartlett to talk a bit about theft at libraries which is as deplorable as any of the other crimes covered in this book.

I was riveted from cover to cover and highly recommend this book to anyone who loves books and/or enjoys a good true crime tale.