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The Resource The dinosaur artist : obsession, betrayal, and the quest for earth's ultimate trophy, Paige Williams

The dinosaur artist : obsession, betrayal, and the quest for earth's ultimate trophy, Paige Williams

Creator
Author
Narrator
Contributor
Summary
New Yorker staff writer Paige Williams delves into the riveting and sometimes perilous world of the international fossil trade through the true story of one man's devastating attempt to sell a Gobi Desert dinosaur skeleton from Mongolia, a nation that forbids trafficking in natural history. The first time Eric Prokopi saw T. bataar bones he was impressed. The enormous skull and teeth betrayed the apex predator's close relation to the storied Tyrannosaurus rex, the most famous animal that ever lived. Prokopi's obsession with fossils had begun decades earlier, when he was a Florida boy scouring for shark teeth and Ice Age remnants, and it had continued as he built a thriving business hunting, preparing, and selling specimens to avid collectors and private museums around the world. To scientists' fury and dismay, there was big money to be made in certain corners of the fossil trade. Prokopi didn't consider himself merely a businessman, though. He also thought of himself as a vital part of paleontology-as one of the lesser-known artistic links in bringing prehistoric creatures back to life-and saw nothing wrong with turning a profit in the process.Bone hunting was expensive, risky, controversial work, and he increasingly needed bigger "scores." By the time he acquired a largely complete skeleton of T. bataar and restored it in his workshop, he was highly leveraged and drawing quiet scorn from peers who worried that by bringing such a big, beautiful Mongolian dinosaur to market he would tarnish the entire trade. Presenting the skeleton for sale at a major auction house in New York City, he was relieved to see the bidding start at nearly $1 million-only to fall apart when the president of Mongolia unexpectedly stepped in to question the specimen's origins and demand its return. An international custody battle ensued, shining new light on the black market for dinosaur fossils, the angst of scientists who fear for their field, and the precarious political tensions in post-Communist Mongolia. The Prokopi case, unprecedented in American jurisprudence, continues to reverberate throughout the intersecting worlds of paleontology, museums, art, and geopolitics. In this gorgeous nonfiction debut, Williams uncovers an untold story that spans continents, cultures, and millennia as she grapples with the questions of who we are, how we got here, and who, ultimately, owns the past
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
Unabridged.
Extent
1 online resource (1 sound file (12 hr., 31 min., 13 sec.))
Isbn
9781549145971
Link
http://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=285&titleID=4003636
Instance
Label
The dinosaur artist : obsession, betrayal, and the quest for earth's ultimate trophy
Title
The dinosaur artist
Title remainder
obsession, betrayal, and the quest for earth's ultimate trophy
Statement of responsibility
Paige Williams
Creator
Contributor
Author
Narrator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
New Yorker staff writer Paige Williams delves into the riveting and sometimes perilous world of the international fossil trade through the true story of one man's devastating attempt to sell a Gobi Desert dinosaur skeleton from Mongolia, a nation that forbids trafficking in natural history. The first time Eric Prokopi saw T. bataar bones he was impressed. The enormous skull and teeth betrayed the apex predator's close relation to the storied Tyrannosaurus rex, the most famous animal that ever lived. Prokopi's obsession with fossils had begun decades earlier, when he was a Florida boy scouring for shark teeth and Ice Age remnants, and it had continued as he built a thriving business hunting, preparing, and selling specimens to avid collectors and private museums around the world. To scientists' fury and dismay, there was big money to be made in certain corners of the fossil trade. Prokopi didn't consider himself merely a businessman, though. He also thought of himself as a vital part of paleontology-as one of the lesser-known artistic links in bringing prehistoric creatures back to life-and saw nothing wrong with turning a profit in the process.Bone hunting was expensive, risky, controversial work, and he increasingly needed bigger "scores." By the time he acquired a largely complete skeleton of T. bataar and restored it in his workshop, he was highly leveraged and drawing quiet scorn from peers who worried that by bringing such a big, beautiful Mongolian dinosaur to market he would tarnish the entire trade. Presenting the skeleton for sale at a major auction house in New York City, he was relieved to see the bidding start at nearly $1 million-only to fall apart when the president of Mongolia unexpectedly stepped in to question the specimen's origins and demand its return. An international custody battle ensued, shining new light on the black market for dinosaur fossils, the angst of scientists who fear for their field, and the precarious political tensions in post-Communist Mongolia. The Prokopi case, unprecedented in American jurisprudence, continues to reverberate throughout the intersecting worlds of paleontology, museums, art, and geopolitics. In this gorgeous nonfiction debut, Williams uncovers an untold story that spans continents, cultures, and millennia as she grapples with the questions of who we are, how we got here, and who, ultimately, owns the past
Accompanying matter
technical information on music
Cataloging source
TEFOD
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Williams, Paige
Dewey number
560.75
Form of composition
not applicable
Format of music
not applicable
LC call number
QE718
LC item number
.W55 2018ab
Literary text for sound recordings
other
Music parts
not applicable
PerformerNote
Read by Ellen Archer
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
Archer, Ellen
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Prokopi, Eric
  • Fossils
  • Fossils
  • Tyrannosaurus
Target audience
adult
Transposition and arrangement
not applicable
Label
The dinosaur artist : obsession, betrayal, and the quest for earth's ultimate trophy, Paige Williams
Link
http://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=285&titleID=4003636
Instantiates
Publication
Antecedent source
unknown
Capture and storage technique
unknown
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Color
not applicable
Configuration of playback channels
unknown
Content category
spoken word
Content type code
  • spw
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Control code
on1052465529
Dimensions
  • unknown
  • not applicable
Edition
Unabridged.
Extent
1 online resource (1 sound file (12 hr., 31 min., 13 sec.))
File format
unknown
Form of item
online
Groove width / pitch
not applicable
Isbn
9781549145971
Kind of cutting
not applicable
Kind of disc cylinder or tape
not applicable
Kind of material
unknown
Level of compression
unknown
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
  • c
Other physical details
digital.
Quality assurance targets
not applicable
Reformatting quality
unknown
Sound
sound
Special playback characteristics
digital recording
Specific material designation
  • remote
  • other
Speed
other
Stock number
1FD0CC61-8D8D-4862-8056-9385A86E0A56
System control number
(OCoLC)1052465529
Tape configuration
not applicable
Tape width
not applicable
Label
The dinosaur artist : obsession, betrayal, and the quest for earth's ultimate trophy, Paige Williams
Link
http://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=285&titleID=4003636
Publication
Antecedent source
unknown
Capture and storage technique
unknown
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Color
not applicable
Configuration of playback channels
unknown
Content category
spoken word
Content type code
  • spw
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Control code
on1052465529
Dimensions
  • unknown
  • not applicable
Edition
Unabridged.
Extent
1 online resource (1 sound file (12 hr., 31 min., 13 sec.))
File format
unknown
Form of item
online
Groove width / pitch
not applicable
Isbn
9781549145971
Kind of cutting
not applicable
Kind of disc cylinder or tape
not applicable
Kind of material
unknown
Level of compression
unknown
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
  • c
Other physical details
digital.
Quality assurance targets
not applicable
Reformatting quality
unknown
Sound
sound
Special playback characteristics
digital recording
Specific material designation
  • remote
  • other
Speed
other
Stock number
1FD0CC61-8D8D-4862-8056-9385A86E0A56
System control number
(OCoLC)1052465529
Tape configuration
not applicable
Tape width
not applicable

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