The Man Who Loved Books Too Much

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession is a 2009 non-fiction book by American journalist and author Allison Hoover Bartlett. The book chronicles the crimes of John Charles Gilkey, a book collector who utilized check and credit card fraud to steal a number of rare manuscripts and first editions from dealers. Bartlett also covers the efforts of Ken Sanders, a bookseller and part-time investigator of book theft, as he attempted to track down Gilkey and bring him to justice. The book received mixed reviews, with reviewers praising Bartlett's research and inclusion of smaller vignettes about other people notably obsessed with books, but criticizing her attempts to draw conclusions that aren't supported by the narrative as well as her over-frequent injection of her own self into the story.

Background

Bartlett, a journalist, was first introduced to the world of rare book collecting when a friend showed her a recently acquired, pigskin-bound German manuscript from the 1600s. She began doing research on the subject, including interviewing industry professionals and attending book fairs, as well as doing a small amount of collecting herself. In the course of this research, Bartlett discovered a considerable amount of information on the internet regarding the theft of rare books and manuscripts. Intrigued, Bartlett investigated further, which led her to the story of John Charles Gilkey. She eventually wrote an article on the subject for San Francisco Magazine, and later decided to expand that story into a book-length narrative, which became The Man Who Loved Books Too Much.

Synopsis

The book's primary focus is on the criminal career of Gilkey, a man who used his position as an employee of the Saks Fifth Avenue department store in San Francisco, California to steal customers' credit card numbers, which he then used to purchase rare books and manuscripts over the telephone.