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88th out of 266 books
—
350 voters
The Art of the Heist: Confessions of a Master Thief
"There's a rush to it, an elevation of the senses. . . . It's a sweet feeling, one I'll never get tired of, not on my twentieth heist, or my fiftieth, or my hundredth."
Once a promising young rock musician, the son of a decorated policeman, Myles Connor became one of Boston's most notorious criminals--a legendary art thief with irresistible charm and a genius IQ whose appro...more
Once a promising young rock musician, the son of a decorated policeman, Myles Connor became one of Boston's most notorious criminals--a legendary art thief with irresistible charm and a genius IQ whose appro...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
September 7th 2010
by Harper Perennial
(first published 2009)
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Jul 21, 2009
Kate
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
dads-adventure-nonfiction
Dad HATED this one! The guy thought he was SSOO cool and apparently it was pretty sickening.
The Art of the Heist was written by Connor with help from a real writer. Hard to keep going--I kept skimming, hoping to find passages which were not full of pompous bloviation on the part of Connor. The blurbs are really misleading, almost bait and switch, since Connor is the supposed prime suspect for the Gardner heist, as the publisher keeps shouting at us, but the book only covers a short period in the 70s--ten years or so before the 1990 heist. So, he never really says he did it, one of the...more
OK, a bit of background first. I am a sucker for a good heist story. I am a double sucker for a true crime heist story. I love loveable con men, and rougish yet brilliant thieves who walk away with a pile of cash or a Monet that used to belong to some rich ass hole. I don’t really like the Ann Rule sort of true crime- crazy killers killing in a crazy way. I see crazy people at work all the time. They do not fascinate me as much as crafty people do. I like my criminals more Thomas Crown or Doug S...more
I'm giving this one negative ten stars! This is the sad, pitiful tale of a thug whose ego and self agrandizing mannerisms are larger than the amount of treasures and banks he has robbed.
Small in stature and weight, Miles hailed from a middle class family. His father a cop, his mother a good person. This guy's psychological condition could be a case study for counselors. I'm not one, but I'd venture to say that he is a sociopath with a hugely inflated sense of importance.
Rubbing banks, stealing a...more
Small in stature and weight, Miles hailed from a middle class family. His father a cop, his mother a good person. This guy's psychological condition could be a case study for counselors. I'm not one, but I'd venture to say that he is a sociopath with a hugely inflated sense of importance.
Rubbing banks, stealing a...more
I was hoping this was going to be a real life Ocean's Thirteen or The Italian Job. You know, good looking people who are carrying out a heist because some really bad person has it coming.
Unfortunately, crime in real life is not like crime in the movies. Nobody is attractive, all the sociopathic tendencies are front and center and the characters are all repellent, violent jerks instead of suave, funny, smooth-talkers.
The man at the center of this story is possibly the most odious, hateful, foul...more
Unfortunately, crime in real life is not like crime in the movies. Nobody is attractive, all the sociopathic tendencies are front and center and the characters are all repellent, violent jerks instead of suave, funny, smooth-talkers.
The man at the center of this story is possibly the most odious, hateful, foul...more
You'd have known if it was me. I would have taken the Titian.
But drawn to each other by our mutual love of animals and by a shared interest in martial arts, we quickly became friends.
But drawn to each other by our mutual love of animals and by a shared interest in martial arts, we quickly became friends.
I expected more from this bio of master art thief Myles J Connor, but he just didn't deliver. Needed a ghost writer to help punch up what probably was a remarkable life.
I saw this book on sale for $6 and decided to take a shot. I was plesantly suprised, it was definatley worth the cost and then some. There were a couple of spots that seemed inaccurate; for example on one heist they are stealing 2 paintings that are worth $450K together then they decide to take a couple turn of the century clocks that are supposed to be priceless and they then say the total take was almost a half million dollars?? Other than a few of these type of "adjustments" it was a good rea...more
There are certain rules to bragging rights. When you've done something really cool, totally outrageous, insane or unbelievable – you've the right to a little boasting. Hell, a lot of boasting actually. Then of course there's the clause that the more unbelievable, outrageous, or insane the bragging is, the better the story, so really go for it and write a tell all memoir. And while telling unlikely tales is something most memoirs are accused of these days, one such unbelievable story is The Art o...more
For as smart as the author claims he is he seems to do a lot of illegal and dumb stuff. He also writes very arrogantly and the friends that he chooses to help him with his crimes are made out to be dumb as rocks. I did like the book a little though. I would definitely consider it a guide on what not to do with your life. I think most of the museums now are pretty well thief proof. At least I hope they are.
Though, like Iceberg Slim, Myles Connor also boasts about having a genius-level IQ, when it comes down to good old fashioned writing, Connor is no Iceberg Slim. However, the straight forward nuts and bolts of how he pulled off all these art heists does make for some engaging reading. Seriously, this guy is like a real life Eddy Bunker character.
The books isn't particularly well-written, and I often wondered how much he exaggerated the parts that made him look good and the police look back. But despite that, the book was really interesting and I did not want to put it down. I was really neat (scary?) to learn about the underworld of Boston in the 60s and 70s.
I enjoyed The Art of the Heist and the story about Myles Connor. I love books that are based on real events and real people and Myles Connor is one of them. He is a very talented guy who got away with a lot but also suffered the consequences for his actions when it came to his life of cons and art heists.
Nov 15, 2011
Jennifer (NorthernLghts)
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
books-read-in-2011,
harvest-cafe-bc
The book started off very exciting and with a lot of promise but as I read more and more, the book became very matter of fact. "this is what I did and this is how I did it" I was hoping for a little bit more excitment from a theif.
Riveting! Even though I was hoping for more about the art, it was fascinating to see into the life of a self-confessed criminal. Very well written - pretty much a cover-to-cover read... you know; the no-putting-down kind.
This guy's ego creates a thick layer of slime over the entire text. If you can scrape it off, adjust to the fact that he's a crappy writer, get past the moralizing and boasting, and don't let your skepticism drag you away, then this is a really fun read. Generally enjoyed the "everybody's dirty" vibe. Too much time is spent trying to sound good, and he doesn't pull that off. A rare sort of romp, highly recommended with some salt.
Miles is a bit off a show off. It's hard to believe that this is all true.
I did enjoy all the mentions of local spots. And yes i did go to the Gardener Museum after finishing!!
I did enjoy all the mentions of local spots. And yes i did go to the Gardener Museum after finishing!!
I had to stop reading it. The author just rationalizes stealing and skipping the law for two hundred pages.
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For a guy who claims to have been a "master art thief", the author sure did spend a lot of time in prison...
This was one of those stories that pulled me in and I didn't want to stop until I knew each "what happens next." I had to give it 4 stars (knocked down from 5) for all the foul language, but with this guy's hard-core crime life it is absolutely authentic and not over-bearing. Really fun read - exactly the kind of "summer novel" people recommend, except it's NOT fiction. (I have to say that I even feel kind of bad for how things turned out for him, though he is clearly not wallowing in pity himse...more
Ugh. I've been slimed. Tons of syntax errors on top of the degenerate story.
Very entertaining. Sometimes you wonder if it is really true.
As interesting as it was, how much of it was actually true.
Apr 12, 2013
Duru
added it
Thrillic!
While the true part of this story is intriguing, I can't help but feel like it's poorly written. Maybe because it feels like being told a story by some guy in a bar. A little disjointed. A little long winded. And a little unbelievable. I may not finish this one...it takes a lot for me to drop a book halfway through but it's just a bunch of stories in a guys life. I don't feel like the main character is really overcoming challenges and will ultimately change. So no go for me.
This read has to be taken with a grain of salt given Connor's criminal history. It would have been more interesting if he had explored the emotional/psychological side behing his crimes along with the motivations he had in having chosen this path. Although well written and ripe with eventful descriptions, it's hard to not cringe at Connor's bragging and enormous ego. Thankfully, the fluidity of his storytelling holds it together.
Dragged on so long and he kept getting caught, so really he's not a master theif.
I checked The Art of the Heist out of the library because I thought it was a true crime book about art theft. It was not. The Art of the Heist was about Myles Connor and his stories with only a few of them being about art heists. Most of it was boring and was basically a convicted criminal reminiscing (and bragging) about his exploits regardless of whether they involved art.
Sep 19, 2011
Darlyne Baugh
added it
This was like reading fifty Law & Order scripts. I thought it was about art heists but it turned out to be a hardened criminal's biographer replete with prison breakouts, drug dealing, bank robberies, hurting people, prison life, and corruption 24/7 - am going to read some Proust to clean the soul and palate.
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