All The Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me
Written by Patrick Bringley
Narrated by Patrick Bringley
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
A fascinating, revelatory portrait of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its treasures by a former New Yorker staffer who spent a decade as a museum guard.
Millions of people climb the grand marble staircase to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every year. But only a select few have unrestricted access to every nook and cranny. They’re the guards who roam unobtrusively in dark blue suits, keeping a watchful eye on the two million square foot treasure house. Caught up in his glamorous fledgling career at The New Yorker, Patrick Bringley never thought he’d be one of them. Then his older brother was diagnosed with fatal cancer and he found himself needing to escape the mundane clamor of daily life. So he quit The New Yorker and sought solace in the most beautiful place he knew.
To his surprise and the reader’s delight, this temporary refuge becomes Bringley’s home away from home for a decade. We follow him as he guards delicate treasures from Egypt to Rome, strolls the labyrinths beneath the galleries, wears out nine pairs of company shoes, and marvels at the beautiful works in his care. Bringley enters the museum as a ghost, silent and almost invisible, but soon finds his voice and his tribe: the artworks and their creators and the lively subculture of museum guards—a gorgeous mosaic of artists, musicians, blue-collar stalwarts, immigrants, cutups, and dreamers. As his bonds with his colleagues and the art grow, he comes to understand how fortunate he is to be walled off in this little world, and how much it resembles the best aspects of the larger world to which he gradually, gratefully returns.
In the tradition of classic workplace memoirs like Lab Girl and Working Stiff, All The Beauty in the World is a surprising, inspiring portrait of a great museum, its hidden treasures, and the people who make it tick, by one of its most intimate observers.
Editor's Note
A guard at the Met…
After a heartbreaking loss, Bringley left his position at The New Yorker to work as a guard in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For a decade, the author found comfort in the ecosystem of one of New York’s most-loved institutions. This thought-provoking memoir chronicles the art, visitors, and personal epiphanies that hallmarked Bringley’s time at the Met.
Patrick Bringley
Patrick Bringley worked for ten years as a guard in the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Prior to that, he worked in the editorial events office at The New Yorker magazine. He lives with his wife and children in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. All the Beauty in the World is his first book.
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Reviews for All The Beauty in the World
83 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The intense description and origin of the art work is mesmerizing. I have visited the Met many years ago but now I have experienced it.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Amazing storytelling full of love for the arts, humble reflections on life, subtle humour, and a true passion for watching.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beautifully written and very introspective. Hearing the author’s story intersect with art, friendship, grief and change. I’ve been to The Met- several times! But must go to experience it as he did. Lovely book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent, personal and informative!! Loved it!!! Highly recommended!!!great reading ‼️
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful. Better listened to than read. You must experience it.