false 2045458 1 An unexpectedly raucous and illuminating memoir set in a Southern California public library. <br><br> For most of us, librarians are the quiet people behind the desk, who, apart from the occasional "shush," vanish into the background. But in <I>Quiet, Please</I>, <I>McSweeney's</I> contributor Scott Douglas puts the quirky caretakers of our literature front and center. With a keen eye for the absurd and a Kesey-esque cast of characters (witness the librarian who is sure Thomas Pynchon is Julia Roberts's latest flame), Douglas takes us where few readers have gone before. Punctuated by his own highly subjective research into library history--from Andrew Carnegie's Gilded Age to today's Afghanistan--Douglas gives us a surprising (and sometimes hilarious) look at the lives which make up the social institution that is his library. 2050391 24 3 2008 Quiet, Please: Dispatches From A Public Librarian total:529|5:67|4:158|3:158|2:103|1:43| 529 1690 1071 223 1 16 false false Thu Jun 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 03 09:52:47 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 27 10:21:44 -0700 2008
I had high expectations of this book. I hoped the author's observations about public librarianship and library school would be amusing or insightful. They were neither.

Some advice to Mr. Douglas:

* "Smelt" is not the past tense of the verb ...more...]]> 5 11 false false Sun May 25 12:16:35 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 23 14:34:34 -0700 2008 A) I thought library school was the biggest waste of my time and money and will tell it to anyone who will listen
2) I think librarians by and large are the most socially defunct group of people (I may be included in that)
III) Although I love the patr...more...]]> 3 6 false false Mon Apr 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 04 05:55:34 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 07 20:15:50 -0700 2008
When I first came across this book I thought 'oh cool - a book about being...more...]]> 1 6 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri May 09 11:40:10 -0700 2008 Fri May 23 11:07:40 -0700 2008
If you want to read a book about working the public library, try Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks & Gangstas in the Public Library by Borchert...more...]]> 1 7 false false Mon Aug 25 01:00:03 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 06 16:44:12 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 4 false false Tue Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 16:24:19 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 05:23:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 4 false false Thu Apr 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 03 06:58:41 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 03 06:59:52 -0700 2008 http://bookaweekwithjen.blogspot.com/200...]]> 5 3 false false Wed May 07 10:24:40 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 10:18:57 -0700 2008 Wed May 07 10:24:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Sat Feb 02 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 27 23:07:34 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 27 23:07:34 -0800 2008
Scott Douglas is relatable. We like the same things, and we're enraged by the same things. If we hung out, we'd probably drink wine and talk about our favorite m...more...]]> 4 3 false false Tue Apr 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 06 09:26:34 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 29 19:08:33 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 07 20:06:43 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 22:19:48 -0800 2008
Oh, and my being in the book in no way colors my review ...]]> 2 2 false false Sun Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 11:48:18 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 28 07:10:11 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 4 false false Tue Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 02 19:29:24 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 10 03:41:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 16 09:57:16 -0700 2007 Sun Apr 13 11:18:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 2 false false Thu Mar 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 09 12:33:30 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 09:45:35 -0700 2009 nor do I pretend to never complain about my job or the patrons. However, I hope that I don't appear as mean-spirited or bitter as Douglas seems. I suspect that he thought that fellow librarians would, while reading his book,...more...]]> 3 2 false false Thu Mar 12 01:53:30 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 19 07:35:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 2 false false Mon May 12 08:08:36 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 13:38:37 -0700 2008 3 1 false false Wed Dec 17 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 17 21:17:44 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 17 21:25:54 -0800 2008 Started out great with pieces on how the author came to become a librarian, including (the irrelevance of) library school. After that, the entries vary from gossipy, regarding patrons and co-workers, to meaningless (t...more...]]> 1 2 false false Fri Aug 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 17 17:51:41 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 22 18:48:01 -0700 2008
But in fact I hated it. I *forced* myself to read to page 156, and then skimmed through the rest in about 5 minutes. The problem is, the...more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue May 06 16:45:10 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 16:50:39 -0700 2008 This is an annecdotal memoir of a man's experience or sort of coming of age in, of all pl...more...]]>