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The Librarianist

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The Librarianist

By: Patrick deWitt
Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt, read by Jim Meskimen.

**AN INTERNATIONAL No. 1 BESTSELLER**

'I absolutely adored it' NINA STIBBE

**Selected as a Washington Post Book of the Summer**

From bestselling and award-winning author Patrick deWitt comes a novel about an ordinary man who thought life’s surprises were behind him – until a chance encounter changed everything

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Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books in a mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he’s known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed.

Behind Bob Comet’s straight man facade is the story of an unhappy child’s runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War, of true love won and stolen away, of the purpose and pride found in the librarian’s vocation, and the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses. Comet’s experiences are imbued with melancholy but also a bright, sustained comedy; he has a talent for locating bizarre and outsized players to welcome onto the stage of his life.

With his inimitable verve, skewed humor, and compassion for the outcast, Patrick deWitt has written a wide-ranging and ambitious document of the introvert’s condition. The Librarianist celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.

©2023 Patrick deWitt (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Witty Comedy

What listeners say about The Librarianist

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One of best reads ever

Beautifully written, wonderful characterisation. At one stage felt like being in the middle of a Wes Anderson movie.

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Wonderful

At first I thought, not another novel about aged care, but kept reading ( because it was our book group choice) and I'm so glad I did. This is a wonderful read, full of humour and compassion for its characters. It didn't go where I expected it to, a genuinely surprising ending.

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It’s never too late to live your life

It was a slow burn. Patience rewarded the reader and the main character who waited until his retirement to explore life and in the most unextraordinary way.

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Entertaining and sweet

Romantics and sweet sad love story and life story which will leave you wanting more

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This isn’t an introvert story

This isn’t about an introvert, this about Bob who doesn’t know emotions and just go through life as is. Boring story to be honest, no stake, no conclusion, some good reflective moment but not worth the 10h listening time.

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Leave on Shelf

The Librarianist is a melancholic tale which recounts the rare moments of excitement arising across an unremarkable elderly man’s life. It is a humble premise which delivers an underwhelming prose.

Characteristics of DeWitt’s writing exist here (quirky side characters; an episodic structure) — but they lack the sharpness of previous works. Flashbacks are utilised to elucidate the protagonist’s past, but they either meander away from the central narrative, or have their purpose spoiled in advance.

Save for its one (early) ‘twist’, there is little surprising or satisfying about the Librarianist. It is an okay book, and one which did resonate with me (frankly for coincidental reasons) at times, but it ultimately lacks a digestible message or enjoyable adventure.

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