The Librarianist: A Novel

Written by Patrick deWitt

Narrated by Jim Meskimen

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

From bestselling and award-winning author Patrick deWitt comes the story of Bob Comet, a man who has lived his life through and for literature, unaware that his own experience is a poignant and affecting narrative in itself. 

Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books and small comforts 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 façade 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 of the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses. Bob’s experiences are imbued with melancholy but also a bright, sustained comedy; he has a talent for locating bizarre and outsize 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jul 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9780063085152

Patrick deWitt

Patrick deWitt is the author of The Sisters Brothers, which won the Governor General's Award and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Walter Scott Prize. He also is the author of Ablutions, which was a New York Times Editor's Choice, and Undermajordomo Minor. The Sisters Brothers is being adapted for film by Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone, A Prophet), to star Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, Riz Ahmed and John C. Reilly, for release in 2018. French Exit, his third book, was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Born in British Columbia, Canada, deWitt now resides in Portland, Oregon.

[Sibabrata De · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is such a sad story of human failing and surrender to destiny

[Karin Kvist · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A journey through life. This time the life of Bob, the librarian. Our lives are all filled with circumstances, dreams and hopes, love and losses. Same as with Bob but, I'd say, his life made for a great book Indeed!

[Damaris Shealy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It amazing how fascinating an ordinary, mundane life can be stacked with a deck of ironic cards dealt by one’s own fears and manifestations.

[Jennifer Camacho · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The pacing of this book is slow. However, the storytelling, character development and relationships are insightful. I would have given this book five stars but decided on four because some parts were mundane.

[Laura Aguirre · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was a little monotonous. It had a lot of shifts back and forth in time which did keep it interesting and signals to the authors unique style. It goes without saying there is a lot of nostalgia and melancholy of an almost empty life with a lot of realizations that could have happen but didn’t. Bob would have been a great dad.

[Betty Brunson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Slow and boring initially. Lack luster narration initially also. After about the 1st 2/3rds of the book the story came together and and became enjoyable.

[Arlene Conboy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The hero of this novel is a man most of us would overlook. A perfect small gem.

[Joseph Flading · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A delightful series of detours; a protagonist as bookish and introverted as he is dreadfully relatable to any reader who might see this novel through to its end. Highly recommended.

[Mary Bajcz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book. The story is interesting, the writing is poetic and easy to enjoy. The humor is gentle and easy to believe. (I'm not good at writing reviews!)

[Emily Lassiter Branch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this quiet story about a quiet man who lived a quiet life - at least it seems so on the surface. I just reread the publisher's synopsis in preparation for writing my review - and everything in the synopsis is what made me want to read it, and left me thinking "What is there left for me to add?". This is the story of a man who loves books so much he decides at a young age that he wants to be a librarian so that he can spend his days surrounded by books. We meet him when he's 70 and has retired from his long and successful career as a librarian. What follows is a combination of his current life and some interesting turns it takes after a random encounter, mingled with flashbacks to his life as a child and a young man. And as an introvert (and book lover) myself, perhaps what I loved most about this book is expressed in this line from the synopsis "Patrick deWitt has written a wide-ranging and ambitious document of the introvert’s condition..." That might well be why I related so well to Bob Comet, retired librarian and observer of life. And the narration of the audiobook by Jim Meskimen was perfect for Bob's "voice". This was the first book I've read by Patrick deWitt, and I definitely look forward to diving in to more of his work.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Audio for providing a copy for an unbiased review.