THE ART THIEF by MICHAEL FINKEL

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 Reading by Eileen Tabios

The Art Thief by Michael Finkelstein

(Knopf, 2023)

Michael Finkel’s The Art Thief is a fascinating account of Stéphane Breitwieser, one of the most successful art thieves in history. What makes the book wonderful reading is how this experienced writer integrates art-related matters (see excerpt below on art beating Darwinian war) which are just as interesting as the art thief’s improbable life. This is a successful literary technique that’s usual in poetry but cuts across genres—this relating the subject matter to other topics. In fact, I learned about “Stendahl syndrome” from this book and ended up incorporating references to it in my novel-in-progress CONVERSATION WITH ECHO. Such interconnectedness is also logical because it exemplifies as well as affirms Kapwa.




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