A creepy compelling story of a compulsive psychopath.
You may be wondering what's a psychopath got to do with plagiarism. Well, read this book and you'll find out. But I have to warn you: read it when you've got enough time to finish it, because you won't want to put it down once you start it. It seems odd that a book about writing and the "minor crime" of plagiarism could be as gripping as Words for the Taking turns out to be. Bowers makes it that kind of a book by his own careful reconstruction of the crime. I had just finished reading his collection of poems, Out of the South, when I picked this book up, so I was freshly familiar with the poems he spoke of - the ones "stolen" by the real-life villain, David Jones/Sumner. One would think a person who "stole words" would be a Wally Cox kinda harmless, bookish sort. Not so with Jones/Sumner. Jones/Sumner is a conniving, crafty criminal who spreads his nastiness from Oregon to Iowa, Japan and Germany and countless points everywhere else, as he steals words not just from Bowers, but from poets and writers nationwide. What Bowers uncovers about this man with the help of a good private investigator (and a rather useless lawyer) will literally make your skin crawl. It had the same effect on Bowers and his wife. What was perhaps even worse, however, was the way it robbed Neal Bowers of his ability to write poetry and also the way this seemingly innocuous theft of his poems insinuated itself into the very fabric of his life, of his memories of his father and family. I mean, this is literally one of the creepiest (there's that word again, the same one that Neal's wife uses) true-life tales I have read in years. Interestingly enough, this book was written more than a dozen years ago and was just reprinted. It STILL makes your skin crawl. If you love books and you like a good suspense/thriller, read this book. ( )

http://rivkat.livejournal.com/174466.... ( )