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Michael Finkel

Biography

Michael Finkel

Michael Finkel is the bestselling author of THE ART THIEF: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession; THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit; and TRUE STORY: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa. He lives with his family in northern Utah.

Michael Finkel

Books by Michael Finkel

by Michael Finkel - Nonfiction, True Crime

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 200 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 300 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.

by Michael Finkel - Biography, Nonfiction

Many people dream of escaping modern life. Most will never act on it --- but in 1986, 20-year-old Christopher Knight did just that when he left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine and disappeared into the woods. He would not have a conversation with another person for the next 27 years. Drawing on extensive interviews with Knight himself, journalist Michael Finkel shows how Knight lived in a tent in a secluded encampment, developing ingenious ways to store provisions and stave off frostbite during the winters. A former alarm technician, he stealthily broke into nearby cottages for food, books and supplies. Since returning to the world, he has faced unique challenges --- and compelled us to reexamine our assumptions about what makes a good life.