Disappearing Ink
The Insider, the FBI, and the Looting of the Kenyon College Library
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Disappearing Ink
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Narrated by:
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James Patrick Cronin
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Written by:
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Travis McDade
About this listen
Like many aspiring writers, David Breithaupt had money problems. But what he also had was unsupervised access to one of the finest special collections libraries in the country. In October 1990, Kenyon College hired David Breithaupt as its library's part-time evening supervisor. In April 2000 he was fired after a Georgia librarian discovered him selling a letter by Flannery O'Connor on eBay, but that was only the tip of the iceberg: for the past 10 years, Breithaupt had been browsing the collection, taking from it whatever rare books, manuscripts, and documents caught his eye - Flannery O'Connor letters, W.H. Auden annotated typescripts, a Thomas Pynchon manuscript, and much, much more. It was a large-scale, long-term pillaging of Kenyon College's most precious works. After he was caught, the American justice system looked like it was about to disappoint the college the way it had countless rare book crime victims before - but Kenyon refused to let this happen.
©2015 Travis McDade (P)2016 Audible, Inc.What listeners say about Disappearing Ink
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Roberta W
- 2021-08-26
Such misuse of access
I found what happened here to be both interesting and disturbing. Those responsible for literary archives should take note. I enjoy books about thievery because I am fascinated by ‘how they did it’ and the why. The former was satisfied, but never got the latter. Still a good read (listen).
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Langer MD
- 2022-03-01
Fascinating- Albeit Obscure- Crimes
This book is quite frustrating. The theft of manuscripts and letters from Kenyon College's Rare Books collection is mindblowing. David Breithaupt's seemingly easy purloin and sale of valuable documents merely because of access, a willingness to act, and lax security makes the listener question what we're doing to protect treasures.
Still, as a casual believer that those resources should be protected, I have to admit to thinking "So what?" - Selling pilfered paper isn't much of an earth-shattering offense IMO. Honestly, I don't care all that much about Rare Books and the shadow markets that Author/Lawyer Travis McDade writes about in this book. I mean, he calls himself "The Book Theft Guy", and has documented theft rings around the world - so clearly he knows his stuff - but I'm not sure, realistically, why I should care.. and he doesn't do the best job of convincing me why I should.
Nevertheless, McDade writes a complete, interesting, oddly captivating chronicle of a brazen thief and his amazing ability to avoid detection in plain sight.
The performance by James Patrick Cronin is commendable.. but unspectacular. His tone is impressive: injecting gravitas into an honestly pretty inconsequential series of crimes. His diction, cadence, and timbre, however, are merely professional (nothing special).. and he reads too slowly (this recording is best consumed at 1.10X).
Taken altogether, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself engrossed in this adequately-presented exposé. 'Disappearing Ink' rates 6 stars out of 10. I am thankful to Audible for including it as a 'Plus' initiative option.
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