Priceless

I told my friend yesterday I only allow myself to read non-fiction books. She said, "I can't read non-fiction. They're too boring."

Yes, and no. I told her about the book I just finished: Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures by Robert K. Wittman with John Shiffman.

Wittman tells his story of how he founded the FBI Art Crime Team... and how the bureaucracy of the Bureau destroyed it.

More interesting is his background - how he always wanted to be an FBI agent, and how his background uniquely prepared him for undercover work and helped him develop his passion for solving art crimes.

He tells wonderful stories about how he recovered some amazing pieces. But the story that overrides all the others were his efforts to recover the paintings stolen from the Gardner Museum in Boston.

If you're not familiar with the Gardner Heist, read a fascinating book by the same name. I wrote a review of it here.

Wittman came pretty close to recovering those paintings, but several events (and people) conspired against him.

It's a disappointing, but real-life, ending to an great read.

By the way, my friend did admit this non-fiction book sounded interesting. That's because it is!

The Gardner Heist

Right before our trip to Ohio for Labor Day, I did a quick walk-through the New Book section at my local library. I needed something to read for my trip - preferably more than one something.

The first book I grabbed was True Mom Confessions, which I blogged about here.

The second book I grabbed was this one: The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft by Ulrich Boser.

I felt vaguely familiar with the story - the detail that the empty frames still hang in the museum triggered the thought I had read about this art theft before. But not enough to remember the details of it.

Boser does a masterful job of telling the story of the history of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, as well as that of the theft. He introduces us to many interesting characters - insurance investigator Harold Smith and Isabella Stewart Gardner being a couple of the first. It is really a fascinating case - one which would take over Boser's life for several years. The story of his obsession is good reading.

The story of Boser's investigation does get involved. He admits to creating a database to keep track of the different people which whom he's talked - no wonder I felt like I was a little confused at points. But for me, that confusion did not overshadow the well-written, fascinating story of the Gardner Heist.

And I can tell you, a visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is on my list when I go to Boston.