A review by candacesiegle_greedyreader
The Last Bookaneer by Matthew Pearl

4.0

"The Last Bookaneer" is a fun and lively read, focusing on a flukey period of time in the late 19th century when copyright laws were such that books could be published without the permission of the author with all profits going to the publisher. This little loophole is about to be closed, and several bookaneers, the adventurers who steal books from authors and flog them directly to publishing houses, go after what might be their last prize--and what a prize it will be! The last work of Robert Louis Stevenson, who has been living in the south seas and, since he's dying, must certainly be working on a book. Getting to Samoa was difficult enough and then. . . there's Stevenson himself. Perhaps the voyage was not the most difficult part of this final adventure.

Lovers of books and book history will certainly enjoy this novel. I have some quibbles with Fergins choice of Clover for a confidant. Why make this character a mulatto Pullman waiter and never do anything with it? He's an interesting guy but the special aspect he could bring to the story is never explored.

Still, it is fun and literary, and if there were no real bookaneers, I'd be amazed.