My primary career goal lately has been to maintain my status as a non-starving artist. I keep telling people (why does everyone keep asking what I’m “up to” lately??) that I am a full-time creative with multiple part-time gigs. This is basically what my entire post-graduation career has looked like, I just now know how to package it into an elevator pitch.

My point is that in order to be non-staving, I’ve had to institute some austerity measures on my expendable income over the past few months, which has mostly meant no “fun money” spending on clothing, books, accessories or shoes. But, I recently rediscovered a hoarded Barnes & Noble gift card from Christmas and was ecstatic to go browse one of my favorite stores.

Due to some great buy-one-get-one deals, combined with some accrued loyalty credits and my gift card, I walked out very proudly with three new books, having only spent $9.60 out of pocket. Talk about a thrifty win!

One of the three books was one I had never heard of, but was immediately intrigued by: The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel. How can you not pick up a book with that kind of alluring subheading?

I am quite pleased to report that the inner contents of the book were just as interesting as the captivating title framing them. I devoured The Art Thief over just a few evenings. Although it is nonfiction, the author narrated a truly stranger-than-fiction tale with vividly imaginable details without allowing the story to get bogged down in facts and figures.

The Art Thief recounts the almost decade-long escapades of Stéphane Breitwieser, an art thief considered to be the most prolific of all time. He stole more than 250 paintings, weapons, statues, musical instruments and religious artifacts from museums, churches, art fairs and other institutions in seven European countries—most in the middle of the day; remarkably during normal business hours. Unlike many art thieves, who steal to turn a profit of some sort, Stéphane stole because of a deep desire to admire beautiful objects. The lion’s share of his heists remained in the attic of his mother’s house (with whom he and his girlfriend lived) until his arrest.

This book reads both as a fascinating history of a mostly-successful thief who had a strange talent for stealing, and as a cautionary reminder that it’s best to keep our hands off of things that don’t belong to us. For as much as one might admire an object of beauty for a time, no one values or treasures a life built on dishonestly and selfish ambition. Coveting and stealing really do tarnish both the items taken and the heart of the thief. In the end, Stèphane learned the very hard way that not everything that glitters is gold.

This book may be for you if you also like: Arsène Lupin (books); Lupin (Netflix series); art museums; Renaissance works; thrillers; Europe; traveling; stories of people who have unimaginable levels of moxie; Ocean’s 11, 12, 13 or 8 (films); heists; oddly-paired romances; This is a Robbery (Netflix documentary about the Isabella Stewart Gardner heist); strange obsessions; art.

Buy the book: https://bookshop.org/a/109412/9780525657323
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SDG

LMB #18