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

When it comes to the realm of books, passions can run very deeply. The bibliophiles, among us, love books, read them, voraciously, and share their wealth with other devotees.
Bibliomaniacs are obsessed with collecting rare tomes and will stop at nothing in acquiring them.
John Gilkey is one of these. An unrepentant thief, he stole a fortune in antiquarian books around the country and hoarded them away.
Ken Sanders, an obsessive collector, himself, strove to catch Gilkey. He set up a stolen-book database for dealers all over the world. Acting as a persistent sleuth eventually paid off.
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much is fun to read. Allison Bartlett delves into historical figures who collected books, sellers at book fairs, the method that Gilkey used to commit his crimes, and why he did it in the first place.
Suspenseful, humorous and just plain delightful.
Recommended.