Review - The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
Publisher: Riverhead Books 2009
Hardback 274 pages



For the past few weeks I've been on a kick where all I read are books about books and so I was particularly tickled by the title of this one, The Man Who Loved Books Too Much. I was curious; is there really such a thing as loving books "too much"? When does obsession outweigh the benefits of a literary mind?

In this story reporter Allison Hoover Bartlett explores the life of John Gilkey, a thief who steals books, apparently just for the joy of owning them. Through her many interviews with Gilkey, the police and the many antiquarian booksellers whom he stole from, Bartlett weaves a tale of obsession and what I can only describe as sickness. At first I could feel some sort of sympathy for the character, for who doesn't dream of owning that one unattainable book (for me, a signed first edition of Cat's Cradle) or see that special book priced so far out of reach that your entire body aches to let it go. Though it is one thing to yearn for a book and a completely different thing to actually take that book from another person. But this is besides the point, Gilkey didn't seem to yearn for the books in any pure sense... for him, to own a book was not it's own end. His goal was acknowledgment. He saw books as the ultimate status symbol of power, wealth and respect. By gaining access to these books he was, in his own mind, establishing for himself a persona of a cultured gentleman... far removed from his poor, suburban upbringing. While I can't draw the same conclusions as the author as to the reasons why Gilkey stole, the story is never the less an intriguing look into the antiquarian book trade.