Finders Keepers cover art

Finders Keepers

A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession

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Finders Keepers

Written by: Craig Childs
Narrated by: Craig Childs
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About this listen

 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. Americas Ancient Archaeology Social Sciences United States China

What the critics say

"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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Occasionally it's almost interesting but then the writer/narrator starts waffling on again about the morality of taking objects out of the ground. He'd prefer things be left to disintegrate into nothingness than be owned by someone who'd love and appreciate them - which is a viewpoint I will never understand.

Mostly tedious

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If you have ever wondered about the wisdom and appropriateness of ancient artifacts held in museums far from their place of origin, you will probably enjoy this book. It looks at the question from all sides. There were some very interesting stories about artifacts carted off, as well as those left in place, and what happened to them in the end. Many of these examples were new to me. I remember finding arrowheads and other artifacts near my home when growing up, and we took them home (which gives me pause today); this author grew up doing this on a grander scale, before taking them home broader view, so truly from all angles.

Super interesting

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