The Librarianist is a 2023 novel by Canadian-born author Patrick deWitt. It was published on July 4, 2023, by House of Anansi Press[1] and Ecco Press. It follows a retired librarian named Bob Comet and is billed as a "wide-ranging and ambitious document of the introvert's condition."[2]
 First edition cover (US) | |
| Author | Patrick deWitt |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | House of Anansi Press (Canada) Ecco Press (US) |
Publication date | July 4, 2023 |
| Media type | Print, e-book, audiobook |
| Pages | 352 pages |
| ISBN | 978-1-4870-0991-5 (Canada) 978-0-06-308512-1 (US) |
Reception
editAt the review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, the novel received a cumulative "Positive" rating based on 18 reviews, with only five "mixed" reviews.[3]
Kirkus Reviews, in a starred review, deemed it "a quietly effective and moving character study."[4]
Sam Sacks of The Wall Street Journal called it "Mr. deWitt's smoothest book by far, one more prone than usual to clichés [...] but also more warmhearted. It shares the attributes of its hero: likable, unshowy, somewhat dull but reliably soothing."[5]
It was the winner of the 2024 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.[6]
References
edit- ^ "The Librarianist". House of Anansi Press. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ "The Librarianist". HarperCollins. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
- ^ "Book Marks reviews of The Librarianist by Patrick DeWitt". Book Marks. Literary Hub. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- ^ "THE LIBRARIANIST". Kirkus Reviews. April 10, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ Sacks, Sam (June 30, 2023). "Fiction: 'The Librarianist' by Patrick deWitt". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on July 1, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ Cassandra Drudi, "Patrick deWitt wins 2024 Leacock Medal". Quill & Quire, June 24, 2024.
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