The Feather Thief

Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century

By: Kirk Wallace Johnson

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

As heard on NPR's This American Life

“Absorbing... Though it's non-fiction, The Feather Thief contains many of the elements of a classic thriller.” (Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air)

“One of the most peculiar and memorable true-crime books ever.” (Christian Science Monitor)

A rollicking true-crime adventure and a captivating journey into an underground world of fanatical fly-tiers and plume peddlers, for fans of The Stranger in the Woods, The Lost City of Z, and The Orchid Thief.

On a cool June evening in 2009, after performing a concert at London's Royal Academy of Music, 20-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.

©2018 Kirk Wallace Johnson (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Fascinating . . . a complex tale of greed, deception, and ornithological sabotage.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Fascinating from the first page to the last - you won’t be able to put it down.” (Southern Living)

“A fascinating book . . . the kind of intelligent reported account that alerts us to a threat and that, one hopes, will never itself be endangered.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Great telling of an absolutely BONKERS event

The story told in this book is absolutely BONKERS. A salmon fly tying flute prodigy breaks into a museum to steal feathers collected by a famous naturalist to sell so he can buy a new flute. You can't make this stuff up. The story is engaging already and Johnson paints a vivid picture of the events of the heist, the thief (Edwin Rist), and community surround it. I didn't know anything (or frankly have any interest in) fly tying before reading this book, but its actually really fascinating with a fascinating history. Johnson's description of the heist and its aftermath is very compelling and so is his final interview with Edwin (who is absolutely THE WORST). I listened to this book on a long road trip with my dad and we both (a 30 year old woman and a 67 year old man) really enjoyed it and have recommended it to others. If you enjoyed "the Orchid Thief" you'll enjoy this.

Top of my list!

Not only is this a compelling true story with all the elements of a thriller/mystery, but it is read by one of the very best narrators in the biz!

amazing detective work

loved it. author took you into history of hat making and the Amazon. loved it!

Worth listening 2-3 times

There is so much in this book so much I have listen to it 5 time and I still get something new every time if you fish, fly tie or love history that they don’t talk about this one is for you

One idiot wreaks havoc on science

One idiot wreaks havoc on science and obliterates unknown quantities of potential research.

I read this book for the non-violent true crime category of the 2019 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. I overall liked this book but.....

Firstly, if you're used to reading great long-form journalism or nonfiction, this book is slightly awkward. The author includes a lot of information about his interview and research process, and it's kind of interesting but mostly it's just very clear that he is not a professional journalist. Why on earth would you hire a bodyguard to interview someone, and also bring your wife to that interview? I was very baffled by that whole part of the book, I thought someone was going to get shot but then nothing happened and I wondered why even include that? I don't know. It was weird.

So we get a lot of information about the author's process but he left out other information that would have been helpful for this book. The book is about a fly-tying hobbyist who steals bird specimens from a natural history museum so he can sell their feathers to fly-tiers. Natural history museums, the history of European bird collections (specifically Alfred Russel Wallace), the impact of the millinery trade and the founding of the Audubon Society, and the international and U.S. laws protecting bird species are discussed. Those are all relevant, but there is really not a lot of discussion of the birds themselves, or really......nature? I felt like more could have been included about the threats to those species now, and their ecological significance.

The author obliquely discusses how the demand for feathers impacts species, but I wish he had more directly focused on it. At one point in his interview, Edwin says that he thinks that he probably saved some birds by stealing birds from the natural history museum. The author at this point should have pointedly said, "Stealing birds from the natural history museum to sell to fly-tiers in fact increases demand for these feathers, which in turn increases the threat of hunting to these particular species." The fly-tiers apparently need it explained to them that what they are doing is detrimental to rare species in a direct way.

It made me really sad and angry that the fly-tiers (many of whom aren't even using flies for fishing!!) all said that natural history museums were just hoarding these birds for no purpose. Johnson did an ok job describing the use of these birds to modern science, but he really didn't put enough emphasis on it. We obviously need better ambassadors to share the importance of natural history museums. Of course, the fly-tiers will continue to delude themselves no matter how many times it's explained to them.

While I'm throwing out complaints I'll add in that the language about collectors going out into the world to "discover" new species was Euro-centric in a way that sounds very out of date in 2019.

So that is a lot of complaints about a book that overall was very good and educational and well-written. I definitely recommend it, and the audio was very good.

Facinating

A facinating story of an unknown world of fly tying fanatics and a decimated museum. Enjoyed the narration , the history of feather gathering and the intrigue.

A truly excellent audiobook

While hard to listen to sometimes as Johnson describes the plunder of species in times gone by, I can’t praise the author enough for his excellent prose, his characterizations of the players, and his very complete narrative.

Moreover, Andrews is an exceptional narrator who draws you in and take the effort to execute a cadence that really communicates the text.

Trafficking of Wildlife Then and Now

The narrator's voice was perfect. The story dealt with the concept "we murder to dissect" in the realm of bird collecting in the 1800's and the subsequent lust for feathers in millinery and fly-tieing. The author moved into the broader realm of CITES currently. It was a compelling story that delved into personalities and professional relationships as well as the role of the museum in natural history research. It made me sad overall due to the trafficking of wildlife but I found it interesting.

Surprisingly Compelling, Being About Feathers

Super book overall. Drawn inside a sub-culture I didn't know existed - and was glad for the journey. Fascinating tale. Unfortunately, I think the author should have pulled in his line sooner as the last 15-20 minutes drag out in anti-climactic fashion and we seem to catch nothing new. Rather than wrapping up the main story, it felt like an author's confessional. However, I highly recommend this audio book. Narrator is terrific - and I'm a stickler for a good narration.

The feather thief

Love how the story unfolded
Historial non fiction my fave. I’m not a fly fisher or a birder by this story is enthralling
Thumbs up.