Brown Bag Book Discussion

Annetta Petty will lead a discussion of Michael Finkel's bestselling book The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession. Participants are encouraged (but not required) to read the book in advance. Ask for a copy at the library’s information desk.

From Library Journal: 

Finkel follows up his best-selling The  Stranger in the  Woods: The  Extraordinary Story of the  Last True Hermit with the  captivating story of Stéphane Breitweiser, the  world's most prolific art thief , who stole paintings and objects from more than 200 museums across Europe over a span of eight years. The  value of the  stolen items, some difficult to price, is estimated to be $1-$2 billion. Breitweiser says he never stole for money. Instead, he views himself as a collector who takes art  only in the  daytime, without violence, when a museum is open to the  public. From the  opening chapter, Finkel's tight prose heightens the  drama of each theft, as Breitweiser and his girlfriend Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus, who serves as his lookout, enter Belgium's Rubens House amid visitors and guards. Breitweiser leaves with an ivory sculpture of Adam and Eve, which he adds to his secret galley in his mother's house in France. Finkel also researches Breitweiser's motivation and insatiable hunger for possessing beautiful things, which makes for a fascinating read. VERDICT Finkel will have art  history and true crime lovers obsessively turning the  pages of this suspenseful, smartly written work until its shocking conclusion.