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Evolution: Becoming A Criminal
On a brisk winter morning in 2004, after leaving early from their final exams for the fall semester, four 19 and 20-year-old college students park an unmarked van outside of the Transylvania University Private Collections Museum. Home to a collection of some of the most valuable rare books and paintings in the world, including John James Audubon’s Birds of America and Charles Darwin’s On The Origin of Species , the four young men enter the building with the intention to steal history. As one of the most audacious art heists in U.S. history unfolds, this true story explores human nature in the transition from adolescence into adulthood, and how quickly the misguided rebellion and angst of youthful struggles to find meaning and one’s place in the world can devolve into criminal behavior. This stranger than fiction true story is the inspiration for the major motion picture American Animals.
242 pages, Paperback
Published June 19, 2018
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 24, 2018
I've received a complimentary copy of a book.
In short, I would need to agree with Liz in her review of Mr. Pink: The Inside Story of the Transylvania Book Heist regarding Evolution: Becoming a Criminal. Except, I never read Mr. Pink and there is no way I could ever give Evolution 2 stars. In review of Liz review; it appears Evolution is a repackaged story of Mr. Pink but this time around (7 years later it actually uses grammatical editing; it's as if it was ghost-written, perhaps too coincide with American Animals.) Interestingly, the last sentence on the back of the book states, "This stranger than fiction true story is the inspiration for the major motion picture American Animals." What if Evolution is a fictional book, drafted, republished, some wording changed from the original Mr. Pink and then American Animals states it's based on a true story. In essence, American Animals is based on a true story of events fictionally created in Mr. Pink and Evolution.
As I read the book out loud to my son, he could barely keep his eyes open, as his eyes drifted to sleep; I was determined to see if there was something interesting so I completed the book. It was like reading a book attempting to mix new-age ideologies with philosophical rational. Tons of vulgar language, which only made the book longer because many of the word choices and series of events that weren't necessary and several stories I questioned how it's content had context for the overall story. It's 242 pages that easily could have been reduced to under 50 and still get the point across.
Although the introduction of the book explained the reason, it still made little sense why the character names had been changed. An anonymous writer would use made up names if the story were fiction but a ghost writer could also use made up names if permission weren't received from other characters involved in the incident. However, there are sources that suggest the event occurred and names were used so it just made the comprehension of the book difficult to follow because why use fake names when certain sources use real names? Speaking of certain sources, some referenced the total value of the heist at $5M and others at $100,000 but this book referenced it at $12M. That's called sensationalism.
I'd say at best, it's a book that might be discovered in an elementary school's library after it has been used as book report for a 5th or 6th grader. Whomever wrote the book used too much imagery on stupid, irrelevant stuff and when humor was used it was childish at best. Tons of clique references to human behavior. Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if the author used bits and pieces of someone else's work. Whomever wrote the book enjoys using references to other movies and it is possible several of the "events" are actual events taken from those movies. There was a mention of Cable Guy and The Hurricane. Everyone who ever watched Cable Guy knew its protagonist character based his own life on the life of others he had watched.
Overall, don't waste your time on this book or wait until you get a free copy if you really want to read it. Maybe go watch American Animals, at this time, I have zero desire because the book was that bad. Definitely, no desire to read book 2 or 3.
In short, I would need to agree with Liz in her review of Mr. Pink: The Inside Story of the Transylvania Book Heist regarding Evolution: Becoming a Criminal. Except, I never read Mr. Pink and there is no way I could ever give Evolution 2 stars. In review of Liz review; it appears Evolution is a repackaged story of Mr. Pink but this time around (7 years later it actually uses grammatical editing; it's as if it was ghost-written, perhaps too coincide with American Animals.) Interestingly, the last sentence on the back of the book states, "This stranger than fiction true story is the inspiration for the major motion picture American Animals." What if Evolution is a fictional book, drafted, republished, some wording changed from the original Mr. Pink and then American Animals states it's based on a true story. In essence, American Animals is based on a true story of events fictionally created in Mr. Pink and Evolution.
As I read the book out loud to my son, he could barely keep his eyes open, as his eyes drifted to sleep; I was determined to see if there was something interesting so I completed the book. It was like reading a book attempting to mix new-age ideologies with philosophical rational. Tons of vulgar language, which only made the book longer because many of the word choices and series of events that weren't necessary and several stories I questioned how it's content had context for the overall story. It's 242 pages that easily could have been reduced to under 50 and still get the point across.
Although the introduction of the book explained the reason, it still made little sense why the character names had been changed. An anonymous writer would use made up names if the story were fiction but a ghost writer could also use made up names if permission weren't received from other characters involved in the incident. However, there are sources that suggest the event occurred and names were used so it just made the comprehension of the book difficult to follow because why use fake names when certain sources use real names? Speaking of certain sources, some referenced the total value of the heist at $5M and others at $100,000 but this book referenced it at $12M. That's called sensationalism.
I'd say at best, it's a book that might be discovered in an elementary school's library after it has been used as book report for a 5th or 6th grader. Whomever wrote the book used too much imagery on stupid, irrelevant stuff and when humor was used it was childish at best. Tons of clique references to human behavior. Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if the author used bits and pieces of someone else's work. Whomever wrote the book enjoys using references to other movies and it is possible several of the "events" are actual events taken from those movies. There was a mention of Cable Guy and The Hurricane. Everyone who ever watched Cable Guy knew its protagonist character based his own life on the life of others he had watched.
Overall, don't waste your time on this book or wait until you get a free copy if you really want to read it. Maybe go watch American Animals, at this time, I have zero desire because the book was that bad. Definitely, no desire to read book 2 or 3.
Displaying 1 of 1 review