Synopsis
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 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 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.
Rating
★★
Thoughts
Despite its amazing library card cover, I’m afraid that The Librarianist didn’t do it for me. The combination of a slow pace, too many characters to keep track of, and dry humor made it hard for me to connect with Bob and his story.
I typically enjoy stories that feature elderly people, but this one failed me. Moving between Bob’s present-day life and flashbacks, I felt like I was trapped by a man who wanted to discuss lots of really boring and sometimes cringey life experiences. No thank you, dear sir. I’ll be passing this book on, hoping someone else can enjoy it more than I did.