The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

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The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

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The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first century: the story of the world's most prolific art thief, St phane Breitwieser. - The Art Thief, like its title character, has confidence, lan, and a great sense of timing.--The New Yorker

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Lit Hub

Enthralling. --The Wall Street Journal

In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods brings us into Breitwieser's strange world--unlike most thieves, he never stole for money, keeping all his treasures in a single room where he could admire them.

For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief St phane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years--in museums and cathedrals all over Europe--Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion.

In The Art Thief, Michael Finkel brings us into Breitwieser's strange and fascinating world. Unlike most thieves, Breitwieser never stole for money. Instead, he displayed all his treasures in a pair of secret rooms where he could admire them to his heart's content. Possessed of a remarkable athleticism and an innate ability to circumvent practically any security system, Breitwieser managed to pull off a breathtaking number of audacious thefts. Yet these strange talents bred a growing disregard for risk and an addict's need to score, leading Breitwieser to ignore his girlfriend's pleas to stop--until one final act of hubris brought everything crashing down.

This is a riveting story of art, crime, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.

Michael Finkel is a journalist and novelist. The New York Times, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, Esquire, GQ, The Atlantic, and Vanity Fair have all published his work. Real Story, his debut book, was made into a film directed by Brad Pitt and starring James Franco and Jonah Hill.

SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780593744178
ISBN 10 0593744179
Title The Art Thief
Author Michael Finkel
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Random House Large Print Publishing
Year published 2023-06-27
Number of pages 360
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.