At first, I liked this book. The first 50 or so pages held my attention: what kind of difference was Bob going to make at the senior center? What had happened to his wife? Would he find himself in his retirement? But then, I don't know, the story just slowwwwwwwed down to the point where I didn't care all that much about his story any more. I understand he was a bland guy, but the blandness took over a little too much, and I felt it was hard to really like him as a character. If you are looking for slow and steady, this might be your book.

Bob Comet, a retired Portland Oregon librarian, is on one of his daily walks when he encounters a mute woman of about his age staring into the cold case at the 7-11. When the clerk tells Bob she’s been like that for 45 minutes, Bob offers to take her and try to find her home. That’s how Bob is introduced to a small local retirement home, where he decides to volunteer.

Shortly into his volunteering, he makes a disconcerting discovery about the mute woman. That discovery sends the novel back to various periods in Bob’s past: how he came to decide to become a librarian, his relationship with the only two people he ever loved, the best friend and wife who ran off together, leaving Bob alone for the decades since. Then the novel flies way back to the 11-year-old Bob, who runs away from home and latches on to a couple of elderly and very eccentric women, as they ensconce themselves in a decaying seaside hotel and prepare to put on a variety show with their talented miniature dogs.

The overall feel of the book is of quiet and melancholy, but shot through with humor and a feeling that despite Bob’s awareness of the “smallness of his existence,” it has meaning and purpose. It’s a small gem of a book.

"He's the incurious type"

Retired librarian Bob Comet, the protagonist of Patrick deWitt's The Librarianist, is one of the most passive characters I've ever encountered, dragged from experience to experience by a parade of interesting characters flattened by their association with Bob. The other characters are certainly the most interesting part of the text, but it's hard to relate to them because we view them through Bob, who seems barely interested in anything. It's a window into Bob's life, but there is limited emotional internality that would give Bob depth.

The Librarianist is a beautifully written character study of an everyday man's mundane life. Unfortunately, Bob wasn't a character I personally felt compelled to study.

Retired librarian, Bob lives in the house his mother left to him, reads about life, doesn't have any friends, and dwells on the past when as a young man his bride left him for his best friend. An older woman in a pink jogging suit staring at the frozen foods changes Bob's melancholy existence as he realizes she is from a local senior housing facility and is unsure how to return. Flashbacks bring in earlier times of Bob's life when the unusual happened to him. A quiet and compelling character focused read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for an ARC of this book.

I had never read anything by this author, but the title intrigued me, so I requested it. I started reading it and I really enjoyed it. I got all the way up to the last quarter of the book and I hit a wall. It was almost as if he decided to start writing another book. The characters we interesting, but it was just a really strange segment for me. I loved this book before I got to this point, so I was really disappointed in the turn that it took. Then the book just kind of ended. I definitely would have given this book four stars, but the end of it just ruined it for me. I didn't hate it, but I am not sure that I would recommend it to anyone.

I just loved this book!! I have already recommended this to several people and a couple of book clubs (to put on their future reads list). It is not a face paced and frenetic read but an immersive and wandering tale. I enjoyed meeting the characters and learning more about them as the story unfolded. The humor was delicious!! This is a book I will definitely go back and re-read since I feel like I was at times so intent on reading more at each sitting that I didn't take the time to savor all the facets of the story as it unfolded.

The main character, Bob (but not the only Character in the book, yuk yuk), is a retired librarian who seemingly has lived and is living a very humdrum life. The story is funny, sad, heartbreaking and lovely, often simultaneously. The beginning of the books deals with Bob's present, alone and retired, needing to find some connection/purpose. The reader then gets to understand Bob's present through exploring the middle of his life, adulthood and relationships. At the end, we learn about Bob's childhood and how this set him on the path that lead to the Bob Comet we met at the beginning.

A wonderful cleansing read that makes you wish that Bob was real so you could find him and give him a great big hug.

Bob Comet is a librarian, who like most of us loves to immerse himself in books. This seems to be where the librarianship of Bob ends in the telling of his story. The rest of the book focuses on Bob's life from running away from home to his broken marriage.

Bob's story is interesting and the twist at the end is very surprising. You see Bob in a new light as his story progresses and you learn more about him. You feel for him and want him to be happy.

This is a delightful story about a librarian. I'm just a little confused as to the title (which to be honest is the reason I wanted to read the book).

This book is a breakaway from my theory that librarians only are featured in mysteries and romances. Definitely a read alike for fans of Fredrik Backman looking for a found family story,

This moving, character-driven story follows retired librarian Bob Comet as he comes to terms with his own aging as he reflects on his life and his most influential relationships of past and present.

It wasn't quite what I expected--quieter and more character-driven than I was looking for at the moment, but that's not the book's fault. Ultimately, I found it charming and funny and sweet. Dewitt is a fabulous writer who I would definitely read again.

Thank-you to NetGalley and Ecco/Random House Audio for advanced read copies of the book and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The Librarianist follows a retired librarian Bob Comet, who has lived most of his adult life in quiet desperation, as he tries to figure out if he matters at all and looks back at the three times in his life that broke the mold: when he ran away at 11, when he had dinner with a gay librarian at 18, and when his wife left him for his only friend at 26. Now, at 71, he decides to volunteer at a local senior center, which involuntarily leads him to the biggest changes yet in his life and to the answers he seeks. To quote the book, "a totem or treasure which to possess even briefly was worthy of enormous personal sacrifice."

Patrick deWitt's writing is reminiscent of books written in the 1960s, which gave The Librarianist a very authentic 20th century reading experience. His prose is crisp for literary intellectuals without being purple prose. Additionally, there were no dull parts in Bob Comet's story. The story moved at a quick pace so as not to bore the reader with Bob's quiet life. The comic relief is wonderfully placed throughout. The young runaway Bob is almost identical to Pete Davidson's SNL character Chad. And, if this book were a movie, it would be a Bill Nighy movie [i.e. The Bookshop, Living, Hope Gap, Their Finest ... ]

I highly recommend The Librarianist, especially for bibliophiles, introverts, library book clubs and all librarians (and their admirers). This is a three olive martini with a twist!

United States Publication: July 4, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for this advanced reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

Bob Comet is a retired librarian who has no partner or children and lives his days kept in the company of books. Through a lost resident of a local assisted living home, Bob finds his days now filled with companionship. When he discovers that the lost resident is his ex-wife he is taken back in time to remember his early life, his brief marriage, and the loss of not one but two people that he loved.

So, this was dull. In fact, I don't intend to be cruel but my two rating, for me, is generous. It is entirely possible for a story about a very average person to be engaging (Kent Haruf does it magnificently) but this didn't work for me. I was not at all interested in Bob, Bob's past or present. There were a couple of mildly interesting characters living at the assisted living home that befriended Bob in the present day. But otherwise, I was more than ready to be done with this book and move on to others.

Bob Comet is a quiet man, and the writing of this novel is quiet to match. We follow Bob through several time periods of his life, from volunteering at a Senior Center as a senior himself to starting his career as a librarian and getting married to running away as a child. This is a character study of a man who is difficult to know. The vignettes are at times very beautiful and at times much too slow even for a calm, slice of life narrative about a librarian. As a whole, the characters feel real and the wide horizon of mundanity in this one life is surprisingly impactful and thought-provoking.

I don't know what I expected, exactly, but it is not what I got. I am a librarian and I love books about libraries and librarians and people who love books,and so I was looking forward to this one. But I found almost nothing beyond the cover and the mention of Bob's former career to have to do with libraries or books in the way that I hoped it would. Instead it felt like more of a "no man is an island" story - which is generally not my thing. It was fine but not really a good fit for me...

I liked so many parts of this novel so much, but I have to admit it's structure was a little confusing. It feels like three novels in one, and I very much liked two of them. The portion of the novel set while a runaway child was less interesting or related to follow, but I truly rooted for the main character and wanted to follow his other journeys clearly. A really intriguing family story of friendship, romance, and what you can and can't find in a library.

Actually I found this book quite boring. The character is a sad sack--no matter what he says to the contrary.
The big reveal is not that shocking. This is a quiet book and ulimately dull. I read the beginning, middle and end.

As a librarian, I have high hopes for any book that appears to focus on libraries, but this book disappoints. It is a story about Bob Comet, with long sections of the book dedicated to different times in his life, with none focusing on his library life. I enjoyed some sections, while others went on for way too long. There is no satisfying resolution and I was very underwhelmed. There were some parts that made me laugh though, so 3 stars for that.

Bob Comet has lived the majority of his life alone. A retired librarian, Bob is quiet and contemplative, as if Patrick deWitt's novel. This book provides a glimpse into life for elderly people in a way we rarely see. Savor this book and enjoy the slower pacing.

A life told in reverse order, the life of an introvert with a deep quiet love of bearing witness to the world and a keen appreciation of human quirks and foibles. Maybe there are a few too many wacky characters for one novel, but the world IS full of wacky characters, and I found this moving and funny and tragic and lovely even when it was punching me in the gut. “Maria understood that part of aging, for many of us, was to see how misshapen and imperfect our stories had to be. The passage of time bends us, it folds us up, and eventually, it tucks us right into the ground.” MIC DROP, NO FURTHER NOTES.

The Librarianist has a lot of great qualities. The characters are vivid, the dialogue is funny and the story keeps you interested. However, I was a bit puzzled by it. The flashback chapters where he runs away from home as a child feel like a different story altogether and don't seem to relate to the book's central tale. I suppose it works to give you a feel for the lifespan of Bob Comet, but you can tell the author had some characters ( the denizens of the Hotel Elba and the two traveling actresses) that he just had to put somewhere and so they ended up here. Also, the ending felt odd and out of place and left me with the sense that something just wasn't complete...