“The Whole World Was One Giant Heist”

Artist and writer/director Miranda July confesses her former infatuation with shoplifting. On the moment she decided to quit:

[F]or a long time I thought my biggest heist was fooling everyone into believing that I was an upstanding citizen, a sweet girl. Then, just a few years ago, I realized that everyone feels secretly fraudulent. It’s the feeling of being an adult.

Musician Patti Smith's tale of stealing a volume of the World Book Encyclopedia when she was ten years old is equally endearing.