The Seattle Review of Books
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The latest newsletter included this astonishing piece from Time that offers the reader a panoply of practical advice about stealing art. As a heist connoisseur, I was quickly taking notes — but one thing that surprised me was how much of the piece focused on emotions rather than monetary gain: “Taking on all this risk for an object you don’t like, Breitwieser said, is the mark of a fool.” Also: “Don’t come alone. You’ll need a trustworthy accomplice as lookout.” And reading that unlocked for me why so many
The upfront fun of a con artist is the way they manipulate the social fabric. Prohibitive rules and unspoken undercurrents become navigational channels into locked spaces: Martin Bishop holding a cake and balloons so the guard has to open the security gate for him, Sophie Devereaux playing both a wealthy duchess and a nerdy art restorer to gain access to a locked gallery. It’s a game, a puzzle, a magic trick, and like all those things we automatically root for it to work.
The Seattle Review of Books