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{"id":7236854218811,"title":"The Librarianist","handle":"the-librarianist","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom 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. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBob 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBehind 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 outsized players to welcome onto the stage of his life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith 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.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Librarianist\u003c\/em\u003e celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2024-02-14T12:52:00-05:00","created_at":"2024-02-14T10:55:01-05:00","vendor":"House of Anansi Press Inc","type":"","tags":["Adult Humor","Adult New Releases","By (author) deWitt Patrick","House of Anansi Press","Literary Fiction","pub date: 2023-07-04"],"price":2499,"price_min":2499,"price_max":3299,"available":true,"price_varies":true,"compare_at_price":null,"compare_at_price_min":0,"compare_at_price_max":0,"compare_at_price_varies":false,"variants":[{"id":41628927492155,"title":"hardcover jacket","option1":"hardcover jacket","option2":null,"option3":null,"sku":"9781487009915","requires_shipping":true,"taxable":true,"featured_image":null,"available":true,"name":"The Librarianist - hardcover jacket","public_title":"hardcover jacket","options":["hardcover jacket"],"price":3299,"weight":608,"compare_at_price":null,"inventory_management":null,"barcode":"9781487009915","requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_allocations":[]},{"id":41628928049211,"title":"epub","option1":"epub","option2":null,"option3":null,"sku":"9781487009922","requires_shipping":false,"taxable":true,"featured_image":null,"available":true,"name":"The Librarianist - epub","public_title":"epub","options":["epub"],"price":2499,"weight":0,"compare_at_price":null,"inventory_management":null,"barcode":"9781487009922","requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_allocations":[]}],"images":["\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/files\/BNCImageAPI_93b14550-f5bb-4392-8ee9-df5cf424fd63.jpg?v=1707926413"],"featured_image":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/files\/BNCImageAPI_93b14550-f5bb-4392-8ee9-df5cf424fd63.jpg?v=1707926413","options":["Title"],"media":[{"alt":"Cover: The Librarianist, a novel by Patrick deWitt, bestselling author of French Exit. The cover has a cream background, and the text is in grey type. A grid of blue lines listing three columns — date due, borrower’s name, and notes — reminiscent of a library circulation card. There are date due stamps of various dates between 1956 and 1999.","id":24191078596667,"position":1,"preview_image":{"aspect_ratio":0.669,"height":2775,"width":1856,"src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/files\/BNCImageAPI_93b14550-f5bb-4392-8ee9-df5cf424fd63.jpg?v=1707926413"},"aspect_ratio":0.669,"height":2775,"media_type":"image","src":"\/\/houseofanansi.com\/cdn\/shop\/files\/BNCImageAPI_93b14550-f5bb-4392-8ee9-df5cf424fd63.jpg?v=1707926413","width":1856}],"requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_groups":[],"content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom 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. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBob 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBehind 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 outsized players to welcome onto the stage of his life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith 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.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Librarianist\u003c\/em\u003e celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.\u003c\/p\u003e"}
{"AlsoRecommendedISBN_0":"9781487001360","AlsoRecommendedISBN_1":"9781487004835","AlsoRecommendedISBN_4":"9781770890329","BASICMainSubject":"FIC019000","BASICMainSubjectLiteral":"FICTION \/ Literary","BiographicalNote":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePATRICK DEWITT\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of the novels \u003cem\u003eFrench Exit \u003c\/em\u003e(an international bestseller and a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize), \u003cem\u003eThe Sisters Brothers\u003c\/em\u003e (winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and a finalist for the Booker Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize), and the critically acclaimed \u003cem\u003eUndermajordomo Minor\u003c\/em\u003e and\u003cem\u003e Ablutions\u003c\/em\u003e. Born in British Columbia, he now resides in Portland, Oregon.\u003c\/p\u003e","BISACSubjectLiteral_0":"FICTION \/ Literary","BISACSubjectLiteral_1":"FICTION \/ Family Life \/ General","BISACSubjectLiteral_2":"FICTION \/ Friendship","BISACSubject_0":"FIC019000","BISACSubject_1":"FIC045000","BISACSubject_2":"FIC071000","ContributorBio_0":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePATRICK DEWITT\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of the novels \u003cem\u003eFrench Exit \u003c\/em\u003e(an international bestseller and a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize), \u003cem\u003eThe Sisters Brothers\u003c\/em\u003e (winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and a finalist for the Booker Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize), and the critically acclaimed \u003cem\u003eUndermajordomo Minor\u003c\/em\u003e and\u003cem\u003e Ablutions\u003c\/em\u003e. Born in British Columbia, he now resides in Portland, Oregon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","ContributorRole_0":"By (author)","Contributor_0":"deWitt, Patrick (CA)","Description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom 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. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBob 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBehind 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 outsized players to welcome onto the stage of his life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith 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.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Librarianist\u003c\/em\u003e celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.\u003c\/p\u003e","EAN":"9781487009915","excerpt_0":"https:\/\/biblioshare.org\/BNCservices\/BNCServices.asmx\/Samples?token=fcf85c1c1b298e99\u0026amp;ean=9781487009915\u0026amp;SAN=\u0026amp;Perspective=excerpt\u0026amp;FileNumber=0","Height":"9","HeightCode":"in","Imprint":"House of Anansi Press","MetaKeywords":"art and aging;retirement home;the guardian of amsterdam street;full catastrophe;meira cook;age of creativity;emily urquhart;canadian literature;creative writing;translation","NumberOfPages":"352","OtherText_Back_cover_copy_0":"\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003eHighly anticipated, fans of deWitt will be excited for this new novel! \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHis novels have sold very well in Canada: \u003cem\u003eThe Sisters Brothers\u003c\/em\u003e sold over 110K+ copies, \u003cem\u003eFrench Exit\u003c\/em\u003e sold approximately 24K copies, and \u003cem\u003eUndermajordomo Minor\u003c\/em\u003e sold approximately 17K copies.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Sisters Brothers\u003c\/em\u003e won the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Award for Fiction, and the Stephen Leacock Medal, and was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and Man Book Prize, among others. \u003cem\u003eFrench Exit\u003c\/em\u003e was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was named a book of the year by the \u003cem\u003eGlobe and Mail\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eQuill \u0026 Quire\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eChatelaine\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eNow Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHis books have received rave reviews from the \u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eEsquire\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eNPR\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Sisters Brothers\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eFrench Exit\u003c\/em\u003e were both adapted into films.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","OtherText_Review_0":"\u003cp\u003eBob Comet, a retired librarian … brings to mind John Williams’ \u003cem\u003eStoner\u003c\/em\u003e and Thoreau’s chestnut about ‘lives of quiet desperation,’ but it is telling that deWitt chooses to capture him at times when his life takes a turn. A quietly effective and moving character study.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_0_Src":"Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW","OtherText_Review_1":"\u003cp\u003eGripping, random, and totally alive.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_10":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem \u003eThe Librarianist\u003c\/em\u003e is a novel that’s interested in happiness … There are elements to be savoured in the nuance of particulars on the page.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_10_Src":"Zoomer Magazine","OtherText_Review_11":"\u003cp\u003edeWitt’s great achievement is in creating, perhaps for the first time, a character whose very ordinariness is his defining feature … The aching heart of \u003cem \u003eThe Librarianist \u003c\/em\u003eis a piercing seriocomic character study of isolation and abandonment.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_11_Src":"Toronto Star","OtherText_Review_12":"\u003cp\u003eA character study of almost defiant gentleness.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_12_Src":"The Times","OtherText_Review_13":"\u003cp\u003edeWitt is one of the great literary ventriloquists, producing funny, quirky, richly imagined novels shaped each time by a wildly different narrative voice.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_13_Src":"Daily Mail","OtherText_Review_14":"\u003cp\u003eThis novel begs to be read.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_14_Src":"Booklist","OtherText_Review_15":"\u003cp\u003eFilled with profound heartbreak and humour … After just a few pages of acclimatization to his style, we’re immersed in deWitt’s world.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_15_Src":"Winnipeg Free Press","OtherText_Review_16":"\u003cp\u003eUtterly charming … Characters come alive immediately on the page and there’s simply an energy to deWitt’s books that make them pleasurable to spend time with.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_16_Src":"Chicago Tribune","OtherText_Review_17":"\u003cp\u003ePersonal and existential ... deWitt cobbles together a complicated but heartfelt treatise on introversion and the value of a life lived through books ... [\u003cem \u003eThe Librarianist\u003c\/em\u003e] never strays far from what makes his novels so delightful: his dexterity with language, his interest in what happens when words fail, and the rare moments where they land.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_17_Src":"Walrus","OtherText_Review_18":"\u003cp\u003eQuirky [and] Incredibly unique … Not only entertaining, but award-worthy.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_18_Src":"I've Read This Blog","OtherText_Review_19":"\u003cp\u003eDeWitt is a fabulous stylist and unquestionably gifted storyteller … \u003cem \u003eThe Librarianist \u003c\/em\u003estands out most when [he] explores the depths of human relationships and traces the evolutionary development of one man for whom fellow humans have led to unplanned disappointments.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_19_Src":"Canadian Notes and Queries","OtherText_Review_1_Src":"Booklist, STARRED REVIEW","OtherText_Review_2":"\u003cp\u003eA bittersweet tale of a retired librarian … deWitt imbues the people he meets with color and quirks, leaving a trail of sparks … This one gradually takes hold until it won’t let go.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_2_Auth":"Publishers Weekly","OtherText_Review_3":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem \u003eThe Librarianist\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong \u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eis another charmer from an author who knows how to delight.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_3_Src":"Bookpage","OtherText_Review_4":"\u003cp\u003eA page-turner… an entertaining menagerie of strange characters and numerous apt and evocative phrases. And the divergent possibilities in the novel’s ambiguous ending scene give readers two very different stories to ponder after the final word.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_4_Src":"Willamette Week","OtherText_Review_5":"\u003cp\u003eBright and entertaining from beginning to end.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_5_Src":"Minneapolis Star Tribune","OtherText_Review_6":"\u003cp\u003edeWitt’s great gift lies in his ability to depict the Everyman in extremis – heroism hidden in plain sight.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_6_Src":"The Daily Telegraph","OtherText_Review_7":"\u003cp\u003eA touching, affectionate novel showing, without cliché or agenda, that engagement in old age is a courageous act to be applauded.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_7_Src":"Big Issue","OtherText_Review_8":"\u003cp\u003edeWitt’s writing and endearing characters create a memorable world.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_8_Src":"Los Angeles Times","OtherText_Review_9":"\u003cp\u003edeWitt is at his best writing dramatic and comedic scenes … He’s a writer who plays with the conventions of the realist novel.\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_Review_9_Src":"British Columbia Review","OtherText_Review_quote_0":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAdditional Praise for Patrick deWitt\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“One of this country’s most distinct voices in fiction.” —\u003cem\u003eGlobe and Mail \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“deWitt is a stealth absurdist, with a flair for dressing up rhyme as reason.” —\u003cem\u003eNew Yorker \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“My take on Patrick deWitt is that he is a thrilling writer likely to last past our soon-to-be-bygone time.” —\u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I will read every book Patrick deWitt writes … deWitt’s writing is always intriguingly off-center.” —\u003cem\u003ePoets \u0026 Writers \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“deWitt is in possession of a fresh, lively voice that surprises at every turn.” —\u003cem\u003eVanity Fair \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“deWitt is the master of episodic structure. In his hands, the pseudo-simplistic fable form becomes a game of dense social and psychological complexity.” —Katherine Dunn, \u003cem\u003eOregonian \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“deWitt is a masterful storyteller who propels narrative with witty, weird vignettes and digressions.” —\u003cem\u003eLiterary Review of Canada \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","OtherText_ShortDescription_0":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA new novel from bestselling author Patrick deWitt explores the life of an ordinary man whose world is turned upside down by a chance encounter.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","PrizeCodeText_0":"Commended","PrizeCode_0":"03","PrizeName_0":"CBC 2023 Best Canadian Fiction","PrizeYear_0":"2023","ProductFormDescription":"hardcover jacket","PublicationDate":"2023-07-04","Publisher":"House of Anansi Press Inc","ShortDescription":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA new novel from bestselling author Patrick deWitt explores the life of an ordinary man whose world is turned upside down by a chance encounter.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","Subtitle":"A Novel","Width":"6","WidthCode":"in"}