Michael Finkel

Magic City Books and Philbrook Museum of Art are proud to present a Members Only event with bestselling author Michael Finkel to celebrate his new book, The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and Dangerous Obsession on Monday July 10 at 7:00 pm at Philbook Museum of Art, 2727 S Rockford.

This is a free event for Round Table members and Philbook members. For information on how to join Magic City’s Round Table visit: https://magiccitybooks.com/round-table/. For information on how to become a member at Philbrook visit: https://philbrook.org/visit/memberships/.

One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first century: The Art Thief is the story of the world’s most prolific art thief, Stéphane Breitwieser. In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, Michael Finkel 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.

The Art Thief will be available starting June 27 at Magic City Books and copies will be on sale at the event. You can pre-order a copy to be signed by the author at: https://magiccitybooks.square.site/product/the-art-thief/1347. Signed copies will be shipped out starting July 11.

About The Art Thief

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. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years–in museums and cathedrals all over Europe–Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion.

In The Art Thief, Michael Finkel brings us into Breitwieser’s strange and fascinating world. Unlike most thieves, Breitwieser never stole for money. Instead, he displayed all his treasures in a pair of secret rooms where he could admire them to his heart’s content. Possessed of a remarkable athleticism and an innate ability to circumvent practically any security system, Breitwieser managed to pull off a breathtaking number of audacious thefts. Yet these strange talents bred a growing disregard for risk and an addict’s need to score, leading Breitwieser to ignore his girlfriend’s pleas to stop–until one final act of hubris brought everything crashing down.

This is a riveting story of art, crime, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.

Michael Finkel is the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit and True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.