Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Am I Supposed To Like Him?

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by MIchael Finkel

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Stéphane Bréitwieser is probably the most prolific art thief of all time, pulling off more than 200 heists with his girlfriend as his accomplice on most of them. Stealing from crowded museums, frequently in broad daylight, his collection was worth an estimated $2 billion. Stealing for aesthetic sake alone, he never sold a piece, displaying his stolen art in his attic bedroom. He felt unstoppable. And then everything came to a sudden end. Fortunately, this book also came to an end. I have no idea […]

Museum Insecurity

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

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After reading a very long, fictional account the theft of one piece of art, I decided to follow it up with a short, non-fiction account of one of the most prolific art thieves of all time. Stephane Breitweiser committed around 200 thefts from museums around the world. With his girlfriend alongside to keep watch, he pulled off incredibly daring heists, carefully scouting locations, security systems, and the behavior of museum guards. But the most interesting aspect of the story isn’t how Breitweiser pulled off his […]

The Fairly Fascinating Account of the Most Secluded Hermit in America

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My buddy Seth from over on Pajiba got me this book for Christmas, and I have no idea why he’d think I’d be interested in a non-fiction account of a hermit who lived in the woods of Maine for 27 years, other than the fact that I live in Maine. Turns out, however, it’s a pretty fascinating book, and though I do live physically in Maine, I don’t follow the local scene that much, so somehow I managed to know absolutely nothing about Christopher Knight […]

Oofta

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I have really mixed feelings about The Stranger in the Woods. I picked it up because I had heard good things and I remember reading the original magazine story about Christopher Knight and being enthralled. By the time I finished reading this book however, I felt kind of dirty and guilty for having read it. This book is an ethical quandary. In 1986, Christopher Knight drove into the main forest and disappeared from society. It wasn’t until 27 years later when he would be arrested […]

There’s Alone, and Then There’s This

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Best for: Anyone looking for a profile of an interesting man doing something unthinkable to most of us. In a nutshell: Man lives alone in the woods for nearly three decades, uttering words to only one person. Gets arrested. Line that sticks with me: “He parked the car and put the keys on the center console. He had a tent and a backpack but no compass, no map. Without knowing where he was going, with no particular place in mind, he stepped into the trees […]



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