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West Branch Nonfiction Book Discussion

The Feather Thief by Kirk W. Johnson

West Branch's monthly nonfiction book discussion group. July: "The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century" by Kirk W. Johnson

Join us for West Branch's monthly non-fiction book discussion group. We read a variety of contemporary non-fiction and meet once a month for a lively discussion. Contact discussion leader Janet Stephens at 630-264-3626 for a copy of the book or the list of current chosen titles.

Join us virtually through Zoom or register for in-person, as seating is limited. Contact discussion facilitator Janet Stephens at jstephens@aurorapubliclibrary.org for more information or to receive a Zoom link to join us virtually.

"On a cool June evening in 2009, after performing a concert at London's Royal Academy of Music, twenty-year-old American flautist Edwin Rist boarded a train for a suburban outpost of the British Museum of Natural History. Home to one of the largest ornithological collections in the world, the Tring museum was full of rare bird specimens whose gorgeous feathers were worth staggering amounts of money to the men who shared Edwin's obsession: the Victorian art of salmon fly-tying. Once inside the museum, the champion fly-tier grabbed hundreds of bird skins - some collected 150 years earlier by a contemporary of Darwin's, Alfred Russel Wallace, who'd risked everything to gather them - and escaped into the darkness. Two years later, Kirk Wallace Johnson was waist high in a river in northern New Mexico when his fly-fishing guide told him about the heist. He was soon consumed by the strange case of the feather thief. What would possess a person to steal dead birds? Had Edwin paid the price for his crime? What became of the missing skins? In his search for answers, Johnson was catapulted into a years-long, worldwide investigation. The gripping story of a bizarre and shocking crime, and one man's relentless pursuit of justice, The Feather Thief is also a fascinating exploration of obsession, and man's destructive instinct to harvest the beauty of nature."

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