Rachel read and liked Rita's review of Quiet, Please: Dispatches From A Public Librarian:

"Let me preface this by saying that I am in no way a perfect librarian,
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 tha...more Let me preface this by saying that I am in no way a perfect librarian,
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, chuckle along with the stories and shake their heads in a knowing manner. In reality, I am totally disinterested in being categorized with this man as a librarian. It's one thing to good-naturedly vent about a wacky patron or co-worker...it's quite another thing to humiliate and mock them in print. This book made me uncomfortable, confused, and even angry at times (the chapter on mentally handicapped patrons was purely offensive). I am not sure what readers are supposed to take away from this unfunny, poorly-written mishmash, other than the fact that it's apparent the author should not work with the public. If Douglas was going for satire, he completely missed the mark. It's my hope that people don't think that Douglas represents all librarians. Some of us actually like our jobs at the end of the day and ultimately respect the people we work with and the public we serve, no matter how "crazy" they may be sometimes. (PS...what's with the incessant, annoying, and unnecessary footnotes??)(less) "

Rachel read and liked Trin's review of Quiet, Please: Dispatches From A Public Librarian:

"Supposedly a memoir about Douglas’ work as a public librarian, this book is actually about how Douglas is smart and sane, while everyone else who works at or comes into the library is crazy and dumb. My god: rarely have I read a memoir where the au...more Supposedly a memoir about Douglas’ work as a public librarian, this book is actually about how Douglas is smart and sane, while everyone else who works at or comes into the library is crazy and dumb. My god: rarely have I read a memoir where the author comes off as more of a pretentious ass. If Douglas were funny it might work, but instead he’s just mean. And not even honestly mean: he keeps trying to turn his mocking into little lessons about the importance of community, or “covering” a chapter of spiteful observations about a coworker with “I didn’t hate Brenda, but…” Oh you big liar. You totally hate her. I know that you hate her, because after saying “I didn’t hate Brenda, but…” a whole bunch of times at the beginning of the narrative, toward the end you slip and reveal, “I hated Brenda.” In the words of Marshall Eriksen, “LAWYERED!”

Douglas says there are two types of humor, David Sedaris humor and Dave Barry humor (the latter, obviously, being the unsophisticated, plebian type that’s only funny to people who aren’t Scott Douglas). Actually, there’s a third kind: humor that totally doesn’t work. Librarians everywhere can feel free to shelve this book in that section.(less) "