{"product_id":"the-dinosaur-artist","title":"The Dinosaur Artist","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn this 2018 \u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003eNotable Book, \u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaige Williams \"does for fossils what Susan Orlean did for orchids\" (Book Riot) in her account of one Florida man's reckless attempt to sell a dinosaur skeleton from Mongolia--a story \"steeped in natural history, human nature, commerce, crime, science, and politics\" (Rebecca Skloot).\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 2012, a New York auction catalogue boasted an unusual offering: \"a superb Tyrannosaurus skeleton.\" In fact, Lot 49135 consisted of a nearly complete \u003cem\u003eT. bataar\u003c\/em\u003e, a close cousin to the most famous animal that ever lived. The fossils now on display in a Manhattan event space had been unearthed in Mongolia, more than 6,000 miles away. At eight-feet high and twenty-four feet long, the specimen was spectacular, and when the gavel sounded, the winning bid was over $1 million.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEric Prokopi, a thirty-eight-year-old Floridian, was the man who had brought this extraordinary skeleton to market. A onetime collegiate-level swimmer who spent his teenage years diving for shark teeth, Prokopi's singular obsession with fossils fueled a thriving business hunting, preparing, and selling specimens, to clients ranging from natural history museums to avid private collectors like actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicolas Cage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut there was a problem. This time, facing financial strain, had Prokopi gone too far? As the \u003cem\u003eT. bataar\u003c\/em\u003e went to auction, a network of paleontologists alerted the government of Mongolia to the eye-catching lot. An international custody battle ensued, and Prokopi watched his own world unravel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the tradition of \u003cem\u003eThe Orchid Thief\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Dinosaur Artist\u003c\/em\u003e is a stunning work of narrative journalism about humans' relationship with natural history and a seemingly intractable conflict between science and commerce. A story that stretches from Florida's Land O' Lakes to the Gobi Desert, \u003cem\u003eThe Dinosaur Artist\u003c\/em\u003e illuminates the history of fossil collecting--a murky, sometimes risky business, populated by eccentrics and obsessives, where the lines between poacher and hunter, collector and smuggler, enthusiast and opportunist, can easily blur.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn her first book, Paige Williams has given readers an irresistible story that spans continents, cultures, and millennia as she examines the question of who, ultimately, owns the past.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Grand Central Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45787379990575,"sku":"9780316382519","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/2855\/6847\/files\/imageloader_cffaa08a-c4ba-4007-a984-36f367ded62e.jpg?v=1786148335","url":"https:\/\/tssbooks.com\/products\/the-dinosaur-artist","provider":"tssbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}