Book Review: The Man Who Loved Books Too Much

Author: Allison Hoover Bartlett
Released: September 2009 by Riverhead Hardcover
Copy Provided by: Publisher for Review
Summary from GoodReads:

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.

John Gilkey is a book lover like none I have ever heard of before. In all honesty, his love actually more of an obsession than anything. And his story really made me question what it is to be a book lover. Is it an obsession? A psychological need to possess these books? As I read this novel, it really made me question myself as a book lover. Would I go to these extremes in order to have a certain book? Probably not, due to the respect that I have for books and their authors. But it was still fun to imagine myself being like that.

This fascinating read takes the reader into an often undiscussed part of the booking world: the dark side. The novel is filled with a little bit of everything, which really surprised me since this is a non-fiction novel. All in all, I was really surprised by this novel. It was a good change of pace from what I normally read.