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Book Discussion- The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
September 18 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
The Art Thief:
A True Story
of Love,
Crime, and a
Dangerous
Obsession
————
Michael
Finkel
Lead by Nancy Lorenzi
In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, 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 Stéphane Breitwieser.
Conducting more than two hundred heists over eight years—in
museums and cathedrals all over Europe—Breitwieser, along with
his girlfriend, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell
apart in spectacular fashion.
Book Discussion Items
Item 1
The Next Abbottsford Book Discussion
September 18th in the Clubhouse at 7pm
Book: The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
Author: Michael Finkel
Facilitator: Nancy Lorenzi
Join us on September 18th to learn more about the art thief’s motivation and to contribute your thoughts and insights to the discussion.
Stephane Breitwieser is a French art thief who admitted stealing 239 artworks from 172 museums while travelling around Europe. An article in the New Yorker estimated the value of his thefts to be two billion dollars. The author of this book interviewed Breitwieser and spent time with him to develop this portrait of obsession and flawed genius. Unlike most thieves Breitwieser 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 Stéphane Breitwieser. He was caught in 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
SOMETHING PLAYFUL!
Nancy plans to hide an original work of art and the thief (or is that participant) who finds it will not only get to keep the priceless artwork, but also will receive a gift. Nancy is not saying if the original art is from a child or adult, but the thief-participant will know first.
Item 2
BOOK CHANGE for the November 13, 2024 discussion.
Updated Book: Demon of Unrest
Author: Erik Larson
Facilitator: Greg Bowers
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.
Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies, and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.”
——————–
Erik Larson is a major author for the Southern Festival of Books and will have a special evening on Thursday, October 24 (6:30 PM) in Paschall Theater at Montgomery Bell Academy. Each ticket is $40.00 and includes one general admission seat and one signed copy of The Demon of Unrest. There is a link at the following URL (check the website information just before the Related Events section.)
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