{"product_id":"the-library-book-by-susan-orlean","title":"The Library Book by Susan Orlean","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Library Book by Susan Orlean\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan id=\"pd-product-id\"\u003e1476740194\u003c\/span\u003e   \u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEAN:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e9781476740195\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Simon \u0026amp; Schuster\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eUS SRP:\u003c\/strong\u003e $20.00 US  \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBinding:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ePaperback\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePub Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eOctober 01, 2019\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePhysical Info:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e 1.0\" H x 8.3\" L x 5.7\" W (0.62 lbs) 336 pages\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eOn the morning of April 28, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. The fire was disastrous: it reached two thousand degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library--and if so, who?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker \u003c\/i\u003ereporter and \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a \"delightful...reflection on the past, present, and future of libraries in America\" ( \u003ci\u003eNew York \u003c\/i\u003emagazine) that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the \"exquisitely written, consistently entertaining\" ( \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e) \u003ci\u003eThe Library Book\u003c\/i\u003e, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries; brings each department of the library to vivid life; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"A book lover's dream...an ambitiously researched, elegantly written book that serves as a portal into a place of history, drama, culture, and stories\" ( \u003ci\u003eThe Minnesota \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eStar Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e), Susan Orlean's thrilling journey through the stacks reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books--and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSusan Orlean\u003c\/strong\u003e has been a staff writer at \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e since 1992. She is the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of seven books, including \u003ci\u003eThe Library Book\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRin Tin Tin\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSaturday Night\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Orchid Thief\u003c\/i\u003e, which was made into the Academy Award-winning film \u003ci\u003eAdaptation\u003c\/i\u003e. She lives with her family and her animals in Los Angeles and may be reached at SusanOrlean.com and on Substack at SusanOrlean.Substack.com\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e:\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDetailElements\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Moving . . . A constant pleasure to read . . . Everybody who loves books should check out \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Library Book. . . .\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOrlean, a longtime New Yorker writer, has been captivating us with human stories for decades, and her latest book is a wide-ranging, deeply personal, and terrifically engaging investigation of humanity's bulwark against oblivion: the library. . . . As a narrator, Orlean moves like fire herself, with a pyrotechnic style that smolders for a time over some ancient bibliographic tragedy, leaps to the latest technique in book restoration, and then illuminates the story of a wildly eccentric librarian. Along the way, we learn how libraries have evolved, responded to depressions and wars, and generally thrived despite a constant struggle for funds. Over the holidays, every booklover in America is going to give or get this book. . . . You can't help but finish \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Library Book\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and feel grateful that these marvelous places belong to us all.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Ron Charles,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"A sheer delight. . . . Orlean has created a book as rich in insight and as varied as the treasures contained on the shelves in any local library.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Chris Woodyard,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Exquisitely written, consistently entertaining . . . A loving tribute not just to a place or an institution but to an idea . . . What makes \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Library Book\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e so enjoyable is the sense of discovery that propels it, the buoyancy when Orlean is surprised or moved by what she finds. . . . Her depiction of the Central Library fire on April 29, 1986, is so rich with specifics that it's like a blast of heat erupting from the page. . . . \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Library Book\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is about the fire and the mystery of how it started--but in some ways that's the least of it. It's also a history of libraries, and of a particular library, as well as the personal story of Orlean and her mother, who was losing her memory to dementia while Orlean was retrieving her own memories by writing this book.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Jennifer Szalai,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"A flitting and meandering masterpiece . . . Compelling and undeniably riveting . . . This is a joyful book, and among its many pleasures is the reader's ability to palpate the author's thrill as she zooms down from stratospheric viewings of history, to viscerally detailed observations of events and people, and finally to the kind of irresistibly offbeat facts that create an equally irresistible portrait of the author herself.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e--J. C. Hallman,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Vivid . . . Compelling . . . Ms. Orlean interweaves a memoir of her life in books, a whodunit, a history of Los Angeles, and a meditation on the rise and fall and rise of civic life in the United States. . . . By turns taut and sinuous, intimate and epic, Ms. Orlean's account evokes the rhythms of a life spent in libraries . . . bringing to life a place and an institution that represents the very best of America: capacious, chaotic, tolerant and even hopeful, with faith in mobility of every kind, even, or perhaps especially, in the face of adversity.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Jane Kamenski,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"A lovely book . . . Susan Orlean has once again found rich material where no one else has bothered to look for it. . . . Once again, she's demonstrated that the feelings of a writer, if that writer is sufficiently talented and her feelings sufficiently strong, can supply her own drama. You really never know how seriously interesting a subject might be until such a person takes a serious interest in it.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Michael Lewis,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"When Susan Orlean fishes for a story, she reels in a hidden world. And so the latest delightful trawl from the author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eRin Tin Tin\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eand \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Orchid Thief\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003estarts with the tale of the 1986 fire that damaged or destroyed 700,000 books in the Los Angeles Central Library. But \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Library Book\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e pans out quickly to the fractious, eccentric history of the institution and then, almost inevitably, a reflection on the past, present, and future of libraries in America. Orlean follows the narrative in all directions, juxtaposing the hunt for the library arsonist--possibly a frustrated actor--with a philosophical treatise on why and how libraries became the closest thing many of us experience to a town hall.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Hillary Kelly,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Like an amble through the rooms and the stacks of a library, where something unexpected and interesting can be discovered on any page.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Scott Simon, NPR's\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eWeekend Edition\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Summer Beam Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52749561856310,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/2301\/7526\/files\/91oy4zw56KL._SL1500.jpg?v=1755209595","url":"https:\/\/www.summerbeambooks.com\/products\/the-library-book-by-susan-orlean","provider":"Summer Beam Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}