The O-town Scene

Book Talk with Anne Van Deusen a lot to look at. Now when I have a free minute you’ll see me on the computer researching sites like abebooks.com, alibris.com, etc. When I see a well-preserved dust jacket I go bananas. “The Man Who Loved Books Too How much is too much book love? One doesn’t have to be a bib- liovore like myself to thoroughly enjoy Allison Hoover Bartlett’s “The Man Who Loved Books Too Much,” the true story of rare-book collecting gone mad. However, if you are like me, and can’t ingest enough books and suf- fer many instances of frustration over all there is to read with such little time to do it, then this book is for you. The idea of owning first editions, let alone signed editions, of such classics as “The Great Gatsby,” “The Old Man and the Sea” or “The Catcher In The Rye” was enough to drive me straight to ordering a collector’s magazine called First Editions, a periodical mentioned in the book. I am also fortunate to have in- herited all of the my father’s books after he passed away, and having been an English professor, there is Much” is the story of John Gilkey, a rare-book thief who stole more than $100,000 worth of rare books over a five-year span by stealing credit card numbers, pri- marily from his job at an upscale department store in California. The book also inclues the story of the man who was driven to catch Gilkey — Ken Sanders, a rare-book collector who was the security chairman of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Associa- tion of America, and the Sherlock Holmes to Gilkey’s Professor Moriarty. However, the char- acter who stood out the most to me was Allison Hoover Bartlett herself. Following in the steps of such acclaimed immersion journal- ists as Joe McGinniss, Truman Capote, Hunter S. Thompson and Gay Talese, Hoover’s role in the story is what gives the narrative its drive. She met with Gilkey several times when he was in jail and when he was free. Gilkey became more and more quisition.” This was a tense scene because the owner of the store recognized Gilkey, and Hoover was overwhelmed with guilt that she was with him. Many times in the book she has to question her interests as a jour- nalist versus her responsibilities as a citizen. Most interesting to me in “The “Gilkey became more and more relaxed around her, which allowed for more descriptive pieces of information about his crimes.” Man Who Loved Books Too Much” is the history and psychology behind the passion in rare-book collecting. What drove Gilkey to steal rare books isn’t a simple explanation. Hoover digs up his past for us and we meet a man with some- thing to prove to the world. The events of his child- hood were the catalyst that set him on his life’s search for respectability and reverence. His obsession with collecting was nurtured through a common fam- ily bond. Surprisingly, the attraction of relaxed around her, which al- lowed for more descriptive pieces of information about his crimes. At one point Gilkey even brings Hoover to a rare-book store with him to explain to her what he looks for when considering an “ac- owning the books wasn’t to read them. We come to see through Hoover’s research that through history, the power of the written word has driven men to burn, kill and steal for them. I guess in the end, I don’t find that so surprising. Anne Van Deusen is the children’s book buyer at the Green Toad Book- store in Oneonta. She can be reached at anne@greentoadbookstore.com. Jan. 6, 2011 O-Town Scene 11

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