The Man Whoe Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

Subtitled The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession.

First of all, let me say that the author of this book included herself almost in every paragraph; it was her soul-searching of why anyone would steal books rather than an in-depth analysis of why John Gilkey stole rare books.

As superficial as her writing was, the reader is left concluding that Gilkey was a delusional con man whose underlying motivation was a character flaw whereby he believed he could be admired as a rich, erudite man if he had a collection of rare books  His thefts were not petit crimes, his victims honest book sellers.  Granted she discovered that his mother had many collections of objets d'art in her house, but unlike Gilkey, hers could be displayed because they were not stolen.

Stealing for "appearances' sake" seems to fall flat as many of the stolen items remained undiscovered by the police.  The author also seems to downplay Gilkey's planning:  like working for Saks where he could steal credit card numbers and having books delivered so acquired to hotels rather than to where he lived.

This was a short easy read to start the new year, but I hope I find meatier books that better divulge the psychology of criminals.