4.8 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 25 June 2025
⏱️ 78 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
It’s The Stacks' Book Club Day, and we are joined once again by Ceara O’Sullivan to discuss The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel. The book explores the ethos of Stéphane Bréitwieser—the titular art thief in question—who stole and kept over two billion dollars worth of art. Together, we discuss Finkel's portrayal of Bréitwieser, the myriad of twists throughout this story, and what this book has to say about crime, ownership, and punishment.
There are spoilers on this episode.
Be sure to listen to the end of today’s episode to find out what our July book club pick will be.
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:
https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2025/6/25/ep-377-art-thief
Connect with Ceara: Instagram | Tiktok | Petty Crimes Podcast
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0:00.0 | Hi, everybody. It's me, Tracy, here to tell you about a book that I think you're going to love. |
0:05.0 | It is called The Great Man. It's a novel by Kira Davis-Lurie. It is a diverse retelling of the |
0:10.8 | Great Gatsby set among the black elite of post-war Los Angeles and is inspired by real-life |
0:16.4 | historic events. Pause for a moment. Does that not sound like me? Real life historic events, |
0:22.1 | a retelling of a classic and set in Los Angeles. It follows Charlie Tremel, a young veteran, |
0:28.2 | who is lured by his cousin Marguerite to the esteemed West Adams Heights, aka LA's newly |
0:34.5 | rechristened Sugar Hill. There is black opulence, there is success, there is old money |
0:40.2 | intertwined with white privilege, and Charlie finds himself drawn into this tantalizing world of |
0:45.8 | possibilities where he meets James Reaper Man. As Charlie navigates a landscape rife with |
0:51.9 | ambition, betrayal, and societal turmoil, he soon finds |
0:55.4 | himself beside Reaper facing a pivotal decision that could end in tragedy. |
1:00.1 | Hello! |
1:01.2 | This is giving amazing! |
1:04.1 | Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the Great Gatsby, Davis-Lurie's book masterfully |
1:08.9 | reimagines the opulence and social dynamics of F. Scott Fitzgerald's |
1:13.0 | classic novel within the real-world backdrop of L.A.'s Sugar Hill, offering a compelling exploration |
1:18.9 | of wealth and class. The Great Man, a novel by Kira Davis-Lurie, is available now wherever |
1:24.1 | books are sold. I believe that art should return to its nation of origin. Of course I |
1:31.5 | believe that and like all about retribution on all types of friends. But that's not exactly what he's |
1:37.0 | doing. He is taking art just to go to him. I think the message is not wrong, but I don't think |
1:43.8 | that he believes that. |
1:45.5 | Yes, I agree. |
... |
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