Finders Keepers, Craig Childs
Finders Keepers, Craig Childs
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Finders Keepers
A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession

Author: Craig Childs

Narrator: Craig Childs

Unabridged: 7 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/23/2018

Synopsis

To whom does the past belong? Is the archeologist who discovers a lost tomb a sort of hero -- or a villain? If someone steals a relic from a museum and returns it to the ruin it came from, is she a thief?

Written in his trademark lyrical style, Craig Childs's riveting new book is a ghost story -- an intense, impassioned investigation into the nature of the past and the things we leave behind. We visit lonesome desert canyons and fancy Fifth Avenue art galleries, journey throughout the Americas, Asia, the past and the present. The result is a brilliant book about man and nature, remnants and memory, a dashing tale of crime and detection.

About Craig Childs

Craig Childs has published more than a dozen critically acclaimed books, including The Secret Knowledge of Water, Atlas of a Lost World, and Virga & Bone. He is a contributing editor at Adventure Journal Quarterly, and his work has appeared in the Atlantic, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times. He lives in southwest Colorado.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Hannah on December 26, 2018

Childs explores the ethics of looting artifacts, examines the role of archeologists and museum curators, explains the black market for antiquities, and shares some of his greatest moments of discovery in the wild. His account is clearly biased, hinging on his romanticized view of how found-artifacts......more

Goodreads review by Don on October 24, 2017

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Childs entertaining, informative, provocative tales of archeological sites “plundered,” “looted,” and artifacts removed (or not), preserved, stored, sold, displayed in museums, held for private display. He portrays well the deeply felt emotions and the ethical positions......more

Goodreads review by Jo on July 12, 2017

This was fascinating and thought provoking, and an enjoyable read. Not too long, not too heavy, with a strong focus on the American Southwest where the author has extensive experience. I had never really considered the ethics of archaeology and the collection and trading of artifacts and antiquities......more

Goodreads review by Katherine on September 13, 2010

Craig Childs is one of my favorite nature writers who has lately ventured into archaeological writing. This book is an interesting musing on who owns the past and what should be done with artifacts. His bottom line is we have collected enough, enjoy what we've collected and leave the rest where it i......more

Goodreads review by Bonnie on March 03, 2017

Craig Childs is an expert in finding relics like potsherds, shrines, arrowheads, and tapestries. This book is about the underbelly of archaeology, from both a personal and a global perspective. It tries to explain why people loot treasures they find and also explain why that is wrong. Most of the ac......more

Quotes

"Craig Childs understands [archeological] epiphanies, and he beautifully captures them...along with the moral ambiguities that come from exposing a long-hidden world."—George Johnson, New York Times Book Review

"Reads almost like a thriller, chock-full of vendettas, suicides and large scale criminal enterprises dedicated to the multimillion-dollar trade in antiques."—NPR, "Weekend All Things Considered"



"This is a delightful account of the complicated world of archeology by an author who loves (one might say is borderline obsessed with) the past... This nicely wrought, even poetic book about archeological excavation and the variety of people who are passionate about the past and its artifacts will fascinate everyone from high school students to professional archaeologists digging in the field. Highly recommended."—Library Journal

"Finders Keepers may be [Childs's] most tender and ferocious dissection...If you have ever ached to possess - or lost what you believed you possessed to change, time or someone else - you may find yourself equally possessed by Childs's razor-edge analysis and compassion."—Mary Sojourner, Psychology Today

"[Childs] is the love child of Indiana Jones and George Hayduke...In his passionate and outspoken new book, he expands his scope to a global scale to look at the ethical dilemmas archeology poses. His topic is the past, and particularly, its material remains. Who owns the past? And what, if anything, do we owe it?"—Anita Guerrini, Oregonian

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