The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century

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True Crime (Tikrų nusikaltimų) žanro knygas skaitau labai retai. Nusikaltimai mane domina mažiausiai. Ėmiausi šios knygos, nes aprašomas kriminalas - ne žudymas, bet viena iš garsiausiu 20 a. vagysčių. Ji įvykdyta iš aistros žvejybinėms muselėms, pagamintoms iš retų ir net jau išnykusių paukščių plunksnų. While this may not sound like a book that would appeal to a broad audience, it should. Those familiar with the sport of fly-fishing will understand aspects and nuances many of us never will, about this case, but historians, true crime readers, mystery fans and even fans of legal dramas, will find this to be a very compelling story.

Kirk Johnson is a good guy. I like him. His story before writing about the theft of museum specimens involves life in the US Agency for International Development, deployment in Iraq, and work on the rehoming of Iraqi refugees; his humanitarian interests and hard work in those areas is discussed, where appropriate, here and there in the book. This helps, I feel, ground things with a moral centre which never leaves any doubt that Johnson is honestly interested in doing the best, or right, thing. Which I feel is crucial, since there are occasions in the book where he reports discussions with people – Rist among them – who imply that theft from museums is ok and should even be encouraged.When I told him that one of Edwin's customers was in fact a dentist, Prum laughed. Calming down a little, he went on. 'What I see is a story of the struggle for authenticity . . . to try to make what people are doing meaningful. What they've done is enshrined this in a period where English fishermen were members of a colonial power that ruled the entire globe and could extract fascinating things from it, then sell them in commercial markets. The entire book flows along very well. You cannot help but learn a great deal about many, varied subjects, painlessly. You will find yourself at times pulling for Rist, and yet at times disgusted by his greed. You wonder how the author found the willpower to keep going on in his investigation, when he hits so many dead ends. I don’t understand the concept of being an expert ‘tyer’ if you don’t even fly fish. Not only that, it is my understanding that the salmon can’t tell the difference anyway. It all seemed like such a tremendous waste. The history, however, that sets these events in motion is utterly fascinating, if a bit peculiar. One summer evening in 2009, twenty-year-old musical prodigy Edwin Rist broke into the Natural History Museum at Tring, home to one of the largest ornithological collections in the world. Once inside, Rist grabbed as many rare bird specimens as he was able to carry before escaping into the darkness. For previous TetZoo articles linked in some way to this one (because they’re on the relevant groups of birds or on matters of ornithology somehow connected to what’s discussed here), see…

I happened to be a bit too familiar with the related history – I’ve read a lot of books that touch on Alfred Russel Wallace, whose specimens formed the core of the Tring collection, as well as a whole book on the feather trade for women’s hats and the movement against the extermination, which led to the formation of the Audubon Society (Kris Radish’s The Year of Necessary Lies). This meant that I was a little impatient with the first few chapters, but if you are new to these subjects you shouldn’t have that problem. For me the highlights were the reconstruction of the crime itself and Wallace’s inquiry into whether the Asperger’s diagnosis was accurate and a fair excuse for Rist’s behavior.

The Feather Thief has been a favorite book of mine since its release in 2018. Kirk Wallace Johnson is a talented storyteller, and to work with him to adapt this wildly brilliant book for the screen is a dream.” The Feather Thief tells the true-crime tale of Edwin Rist robbing the British Museum of Natural History of hundreds of irreplaceable bird skins, and the greed, obsession, and twisted logic that had compelled him to do so.

If you're a fan of these fascinating works of non-fiction, then grab hold of this story of the feather thief before he gets away with it. The book was recommended to me by a friend who is not known for reading much, and his thrilled response to it had me intrigued. In 2009, a twenty-year-old gifted American flautist breaks into the British Natural History Museum at Tring, 30 miles northwest of London, and steals three hundred rare birds whose exotic feathers are in demand in the fly-tying community. This young man does not fish. He ties flies as a hobby and an art form. Exotic feathers are used by fly tiers to replicate 19th century designs. These feathers are increasingly rare and, thus, extremely valuable. It sounds like outlandish fiction, but this is a true crime. The author, a journalist, hears about the theft from his fly-fishing guide and decides to find out more. There is a theft involved, of course, but Kirk Wallace Johnson does a fine job - enough to make me wince repeatedly - of bringing into focus the massacre of millions of birds simply because they're pretty. In the 1800s, wildly ostentatious plumed hats were the rage. Collecting beautiful (and dead) animals was en vogue. But today? Today? I'm not telling you why these beautiful feathers were stolen. Read the book!The Feather Thief truly is a tale of obsession. All the men who appear in Johnson’s enjoyable book, including the author, appear to be batty, gripped by a mania for exotic birds. A captivating tale of an unlikely thief and his even more unlikely crime, and a meditation on obsession, greed, and the sheer fascination in something as seemingly simple as a feather Paul Collins, author of The Murder of the Century Not reviewed, sadly, but I plan on rereading it. Have upgraded my rating to 5 stars this February 2021 because I find myself recommending this book to everyone.

It turns out that these were valuable bird skins, with beautiful ornamental feathers. These feathers receive high prices from collectors who practice the obscure hobby of Victorian fly-tying. This book – like the birds, rogues, and adventurers at the heart of it – has had an astonishing life, and, thanks to exuberant readers, continues to find a wide audience,” said Johnson. “I’m honored for the opportunity to helm the adaptation with such a great team – their passion for this project was so overwhelming that it made me feel as though I was discovering the story for the first time.”A fascinating book… the kind of intelligent reported account that alerts us to a threat and that, one hopes, will never itself be endangered Wall Street Journal An online forum recently posted a list of true crime without murder or violence. The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century would fit the bill as no murder nor physical harm befalls any person. Yet is any crime without a victim? Each reader would come up with a different list of who or what was affected by the events that are related in this book. Perhaps not as disturbing as the loss of life or a brutal rape or abuse, but still a story of devastating loss. Exclusive: An adaptation of Kirk Wallace Johnson’s bestselling The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century is in the works for the small screen. Jenna Bush Hager and Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, have teamed with Johnson to develop a series adaptation of the true-crime non-fiction book. Optioned in a highly competitive situation, The Feather Thief marks Hager’s first project in development under her first-look deal at Universal Studio Group. Johnson will pen the series adaptation. Ben Spector will executive produce on behalf of Hager’s production company. All in all, I highly recommend this book. To sportsmen, to crime buffs, to pyschology students, and to anyone else who loves a good mystery. The author traces the origins of the feathers and how they came to be in the museum, which is far more interesting than one might think. From there the book builds into a detective story, then a legal drama, then finally a personal quest for the whole truth and maybe some modicum of justice.