TOW #13 - IRB "The Man Who Loved Books Too Much"

In "The Man Who Loved Books Too Much," Allison Hoover Barlett writes about book thief John Gilkey. Ken Sanders, a Salt Lake City rare book dealer, has been chasing down the thief for years, and finally catches a break by learning his name and receiving a mug shot several days before an antique book fair in New York City. Her perspective as an outsider, a journalist interested in the case, makes readers trust her words. Barlett had initially written an article for her San Francisco magazine to cover this topic, but eventually it gathered large enough interest to create a book. She begins by illustrating her experience at the fair, and how she stalked out Sanders, and quotes him throughout her narrative of their conversation. She also met with Gilkey as he was in prison for bad checks, helping her appeal to ethos as she shows both sides of the story. She shows Gilkey's literary obsession, and his questionable mental state, without painting him as the villain and Sanders as the hero. She shows the views of those Gilkey affected and those who were after him, as well as Gilkey himself. She is constantly in the middle herself, and she shows that by describing the struggle she has between the moral responsibility she feels to tell the authorities of his crimes, and the lack of technical legal responsibility she has to do so. This appeals pathos in a way as it evokes feelings of pity and understanding from readers. Halfway through the book, I have yet to discover a concrete purpose from Barlett. But I find possible hints to it, as she finds it important to show both sides of the story and the fact that everyone has a reason behind what they do, even herself.