Author Ulrich Boser: The Gardner Heist
Books / Literature - Reading
Monday, March 16, 2009
6:00 PM-7:30 PM
Providence Public Library, Central
Barnard Room (3rd Floor)
150 Empire Street
Providence, RI 02903
Google Maps - MapQuest
6:00-6:30pm: Book Sale & Signing
6:30-7:30pm: Reading and Discussion
PPL is pleased to welcome author Ulrich Boser and the Dartmouth Alumni Club of Providence for a lively discussion of Boser's new title, The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft (Harper Collins, release date: 2/24/2009).
About the Book
Shortly after midnight on March 18, 1990, two men broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and committed the largest art heist in history. They stole a dozen masterpieces, including one Vermeer, three Rembrandts, and five Degas. But after thousands of leads, hundreds of interviews, and a $5-million reward, not a single painting has been recovered. Worth a total of $500 million, the missing masterpieces have become the Holy Grail of the art world and one of the nation's most extraordinary unsolved mysteries.
Art detective Harold Smith worked on the theft for years, and after his death, reporter Ulrich Boser inherited his case files. Traveling deep into the art underworld, Boser explores Smith's unfinished leads and comes across a remarkable cast of characters, including the brilliant rock 'n' roll art thief; the golden-boy gangster who professes his innocence in rhyming verse; the deadly mobster James "Whitey" Bulger; and the Boston heiress Isabella Stewart Gardner, who stipulated in her will that nothing should ever be changed in her museum, a provision followed so closely that the empty frames of the stolen works still hang on the walls. Boser eventually cracks one of the biggest mysteries of the case and uncovers the identities of the men who robbed the museum nearly two decades ago. A tale of art and greed, of obsession and loss, The Gardner Heist is as compelling as the stolen masterpieces themselves.
About the Author
Ulrich Boser has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Smithsonian magazine, Slate, and many other publications. He has served as a contributing editor at U.S. News and World Report and is the founding editor of The Open Case, a crime magazine and web community. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Cost: FREE
Suggested Audiences:
Elders, Adult, College, High School
E-mail:
lmiller@provlib.org
Last Modified: March 13, 2009 at 2:47 PM
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Author Ulrich Boser: The Gardner Heist
Books / Literature - Reading
Monday, March 16, 2009
6:00 PM-7:30 PM
Providence Public Library, Central
Barnard Room (3rd Floor)
150 Empire Street
Providence, RI 02903
Google Maps - MapQuest
6:00-6:30pm: Book Sale & Signing
About the Book
6:30-7:30pm: Reading and Discussion
PPL is pleased to welcome author Ulrich Boser and the Dartmouth Alumni Club of Providence for a lively discussion of Boser's new title, The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft (Harper Collins, release date: 2/24/2009).
Shortly after midnight on March 18, 1990, two men broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and committed the largest art heist in history. They stole a dozen masterpieces, including one Vermeer, three Rembrandts, and five Degas. But after thousands of leads, hundreds of interviews, and a $5-million reward, not a single painting has been recovered. Worth a total of $500 million, the missing masterpieces have become the Holy Grail of the art world and one of the nation's most extraordinary unsolved mysteries.
Art detective Harold Smith worked on the theft for years, and after his death, reporter Ulrich Boser inherited his case files. Traveling deep into the art underworld, Boser explores Smith's unfinished leads and comes across a remarkable cast of characters, including the brilliant rock 'n' roll art thief; the golden-boy gangster who professes his innocence in rhyming verse; the deadly mobster James "Whitey" Bulger; and the Boston heiress Isabella Stewart Gardner, who stipulated in her will that nothing should ever be changed in her museum, a provision followed so closely that the empty frames of the stolen works still hang on the walls. Boser eventually cracks one of the biggest mysteries of the case and uncovers the identities of the men who robbed the museum nearly two decades ago. A tale of art and greed, of obsession and loss, The Gardner Heist is as compelling as the stolen masterpieces themselves.
About the Author
Ulrich Boser has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Smithsonian magazine, Slate, and many other publications. He has served as a contributing editor at U.S. News and World Report and is the founding editor of The Open Case, a crime magazine and web community. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Cost: FREE
Sponsored by: Dartmouth Alumni Club of Providence
Suggested Audiences: Elders, Adult, College, High School
E-mail: lmiller@provlib.org
Last Modified: March 13, 2009 at 2:47 PM
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