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Title details for All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley - Wait list

All the Beauty in the World

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me

by Patrick Bringley
Patrick Bringley
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
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New York Times bestseller

Named one of the best books of the year by the New York Public Library, the Financial Times, the New York Post, Book Riot, and the Sunday Times (London).

An "exquisite" (The Washington Post) "hauntingly beautiful" (Associated Press) 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 glamourous fledgling career at The New Yorker, Patrick Bringley never thought that 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 your 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 an "empathic" (The New York Times Book Review), "moving" (NPR), "consoling, and beautiful" (The Guardian) portrait of a great museum, its hidden treasures, and the people who make it tick, by one of its most intimate observers.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 14, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797146751
      • File size: 174623 KB
      • Duration: 06:03:47

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      June 10, 2024

      Bringley grew up near Chicago but fell in love with the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art at age 11. When the untimely death of his beloved brother Tom prompted him to leave his promising but unfulfilling job at the New Yorker, he became a guard at the museum and stayed for a decade. During those 10 years, Bringley worked his way through the museum's masterpieces, immersing himself in the art and the history surrounding him. His debut memoir focuses on art, his fellow guards (an incredibly diverse and interesting workforce), and the myriad of visitors he connected with along the way. Unfortunately, while Bringley is a beautiful writer, his narration skills are not as developed. Listeners will likely be moved by his occasionally passionate delivery but could be taken aback by his clipped and over-enunciated pronunciations. Even so, he ably reminds listeners of the wonders of art, history, and humanity. VERDICT Bringley brings emotional depth to his experiences, struggling to heal from his brother's death and immersing himself in the museum's beauty. Despite minor quibbles, this audio should find a welcome home in most audio collections.--Christa Van Herreweghe

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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