“The Feather Thief” is the true story and natural history of the exotic feather trade, environmental exploitation, the underground world of salmon fly-tying, and the author’s obsession with discovering what happened to the nearly 300 priceless bird skins stolen from a natural history museum. I was initially interested in this book because of its obvious connections to natural resources and conservation. I had heard previously about the fad of using exotic feathers in women’s fashion, but never about the other, more timely, illegal uses of rare and protected feathers. The book is thorough in its description of the history of feather use and the laws that were enacted in an attempt to protect those species from continued harvesting from the wild. The main hook of this book, however, is the theft of hundreds of bird skins from a natural history museum and subsequent butchering and selling of the specimens, which are invaluable for their scientific value, to rich buyers the world over.

The book, in theory, should have been rich enthralling to read, but I found myself bored several times. The author spent several years researching the facts and events of the book, but seemed to have trouble condensing what he learned into a fast-paced story format. There were chapters that dragged on, especially those where the author brings himself into the mix. While I normally enjoy a non-fiction re-telling of an investigation through the author’s eyes (The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano is a perfect example of this genre done well), the author of this book was so uninteresting, I was never able to connect with him. His role in the story seemed forced and did not add anything of value to the main premise of the book. He was a vehicle for telling the story, and that was it. He did not have any interesting qualities that added to the story, and he didn’t grow through the book. In fact, no one in the book grew or evolved, and so I was left feeling unfulfilled. I know this is real life, and real life doesn’t always tie up in a neat bow, but still, the story felt incomplete.

I did enjoy the themes of natural history, conservation of natural resources, and environmental stewardship throughout the book, though I was distressed at the lack of enforcement of wildlife trafficking laws in place to protect rare and exotic birds. I was glad the author spent a fair bit of time on the subject of scientific value of museum specimens. That in itself is a positive message that was presented well in the context of this book and would be a reason I’d recommend it to others.

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Created May 15, 2019 at 7:04pm • Submit your own review...