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)

There's a world for everything out there

This book will bring out your inner nerd. You realize there are so many interests and addictions out there. The smallest things can enthrall many and the author has the ability to invite viewers into a world where exotic feathers are the center of the world for many.

Interesting history on feathers

This story had an interesting twist with respect to who is interested in feathers. The reader did a good job, clear delivery and variety of accents.

Great Fly Thing Book

Being a past fly fisher/tyer, this is a very interesting and absorbing book. At the end it smacked a little of chasing windmills as the author believed he could get the vintage tiers to admit to having and giving up birds/feathers.

Fantastic read!

Absolutely loved this book! A must read for everyone! Beautifully written and incredibly interesting. A story that I feel like did not get much press but needed to be told!

Who knew I could get this angry over feathers?

Amazing book, fantastic narration. I'm already planning a second listen because I know I missed a lot of details.

Fantastic, Informative and Great Storytelling

this was a wonderful history of birds with a mystery of a grand theft. that being said, i will never romanticize fly fishing again. Shame on this community.

A FEATHER HEIST!!

I first learned about this heist from a podcast and I thought that it was the most peculiar thing in the world. The book was really interesting- at first I wasn’t sure why we were getting so much history on the discovery of the birds- but it gives you so much more appreciation of what is treated with disregard when the feathers are stolen. What a story!! People are crazy with what they like to collect!!!

Reads like a novel...

....I found this surprisingly (given the subject) readable. Worth a listen even if one does doesn’t have any interest in fly-fishing.

Rare Birds

Being a bird lover, I found this story very interesting. The onslaught against birds and nature, in general, is a threat to the future of humanity. Many men in pursuit of money and trivial hobbies will cut down the last tree shoot the last bird and hook the last fish with no regrets. Mr. Johnson did a great job of researching his subject. He traveled the world had very tough interviews and left no leaf unturned. And, wrote a good book.

A riveting story about bird feathers and obsession

I like fishing. I have taken a course on tying flies, but I never knew any of this. I came away admiring the author and his determination to bring the thieves to account and profound disappointment that an organization which touts excellence can be filled with so many men of greed. These men are willing to justify or lie about thier own bad even criminal behavior to feed their obsessions. I thank Mr. Johnson for shining a light on this story.