The Library Book
{{Short description|2018 book by Susan Orlean in Los Angeles Central Library}}
{{Infobox book
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| name = The Library Book
| image = File:The Library Book.jpg
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| caption = First edition
| author = Susan Orlean
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| country = United States
| language = English
| subject = Los Angeles Central Library
| genre = Nonfiction
| set_in = Los Angeles, California
| publisher = Simon & Schuster
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| pub_date = 2018
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| media_type = Book
| pages = 336
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| isbn = 978-1-4767-4018-8
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The Library Book is a 2018 non-fiction book by Susan Orlean about a 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Central Library. It received strongly favorable reviews and became a New York Times Best Seller.
==Development and publication==
When Orlean's son had a school assignment to interview a city employee, he chose a librarian and together they visited the Studio City branch of the Los Angeles Public Library system which reignited her own childhood passion for libraries. The immersive project involved three years of research and two years of writing.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-susan-orlean-library-20181011-htmlstory.html|title=Who started the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Library? Susan Orlean investigates in her new book|last=Kellogg|first=Carolyn|date=October 11, 2018|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-date=April 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412224806/https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-susan-orlean-library-20181011-htmlstory.html|url-status=live}} Orlean hired a fact-checker to ensure the book was accurate, explaining, "I don't want a substantial error that changes the meaning of my book, but I also don't want silly errors".{{cite web |last1=Alter |first1=Alexandra |title=It's a Fact: Mistakes Are Embarrassing the Publishing Industry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/business/publishing-books-errors.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 25, 2019 |date=September 22, 2019 |archive-date=September 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925013548/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/business/publishing-books-errors.html |url-status=live }}
The Library Book was published by Simon & Schuster on October 16, 2018. The first edition was 336 pages.
Subject matter
File:Los-angeles-central-library.jpg
The Library Book alternates between a true-crime work on the suspicion of arson in a 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Central Library; and a broader history of that library and Orlean's personal devotion to libraries in general, especially as the site of fond memories she shared with her mother.
Regarding the suspected arson, Orlean traces the story of suspect Harry Peak, who was arrested but ultimately not tried in a criminal trial for arson, due to the weakness of evidence against him. Peak and the City of Los Angeles settled dueling civil suits shortly before Peak’s death from complications of HIV/AIDS in 1993.
Reception
File:Susan Orlean 2018 (cropped2).jpg
The Library Book received strongly favorable reviews and was selected as a "PW Pick" by Publishers Weekly.{{Cite web|date=July 9, 2018|title=Nonfiction Book Review: The Library Book by Susan Orlean. Simon & Schuster, $28 (336p) ISBN 978-1-4767-4018-8|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4767-4018-8|access-date=2022-02-01|website=Publishers Weekly|language=en|archive-date=2020-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027014001/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4767-4018-8|url-status=live}} According to Book Marks, the book received a "positive" consensus, based on twenty-six critics: twelve "rave", thirteen "positive", and one "mixed".{{Cite web |title=The Library Book|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/the-library-book/|access-date=16 January 2024 |website=Book Marks}} In the September/October 2019 issue of Bookmarks, the book was scored four out of five.{{Cite web |title=The Library Book|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Now+in+Paperback.-a0614147867|access-date=14 January 2023 |website=Bookmarks}}
Reviewing the book for The New York Times, Michael Lewis wrote, "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."{{Cite news|last=Lewis|first=Michael|date=2018-10-15|title=The Library Fire That Ignited an Author's Imagination|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/books/review/susan-orlean-library-book.html|access-date=2022-02-01|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2021-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927224345/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/books/review/susan-orlean-library-book.html|url-status=live}} In The Washington Post, Ron Charles called The Library Book "a wide-ranging, deeply personal and terrifically engaging investigation of humanity's bulwark against oblivion: the library."{{Cite news|last=Charles|first=Ron|date=October 11, 2018|title=Review {{!}} Everybody who loves books should check out 'The Library Book'|language=en-US|work=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/everybody-who-loves-books-should-check-out-the-library-book/2018/10/09/3e771e28-cafe-11e8-a3e6-44daa3d35ede_story.html|access-date=2022-02-01|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=2020-09-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928071514/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/everybody-who-loves-books-should-check-out-the-library-book/2018/10/09/3e771e28-cafe-11e8-a3e6-44daa3d35ede_story.html|url-status=live}}
The Library Book became a New York Times Best Seller.{{Cite news|title=Paperback Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - Books - Dec. 15, 2019 - The New York Times|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2019/12/15/paperback-nonfiction/|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=0362-4331}}
Television adaptation
As of 2019, Orlean is slated to collaborate with James Ponsoldt to write and executive-produce an adaption for television.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-susan-orlean-tv-rights-20190402-story.html|title=Susan Orlean's book about 1986 L.A. library fire headed to television|last=Schaub|first=Michael|date=April 2, 2019|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-date=April 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413223044/https://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-susan-orlean-tv-rights-20190402-story.html|url-status=live}}
See also
- Fahrenheit 451 - mentioned in the book
- Bibliophilia
- Adaptation - 2002 Oscar-winning adaptation of The Orchid Thief
References
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Category:2018 non-fiction books
Category:Books about Los Angeles