''The Library Book'' is a 2018 non-fiction book by

Susan Orlean Susan Orlean (born October 31, 1955) is an American journalist, television writer, and bestselling author of '' The Orchid Thief'' and '' The Library Book''. She has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1992, and has contributed artic ...

about a 1986 fire at the

Los Angeles Central Library Richard J. Riordan Central Library, primarily known as the Los Angeles Central Library, is the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), in Downtown Los Angeles. It is named after Mayor of Los Angeles Richard Riordan. It consists o ...

. 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 The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California, operating separate from the Los Angeles County Public Library system. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million resid ...

system which reignited her own childhood passion for libraries. The immersive project involved three years of research and two years of writing. 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". ''The Library Book'' was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

on October 16, 2018. The first edition was 336 pages.

Subject matter

''The Library Book'' alternates between a true-crime work on the suspicion of

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

in a 1986 fire at the

; 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 The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

in 1993.

Reception

''The Library Book'' received strongly favorable reviews and was selected as a "PW Pick" by ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

''. Reviewing the book for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',

Michael Lewis Michael Monroe Lewis (born October 15, 1960) Gale Biography In Context. is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. ...

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." In ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', Ron Charles called ''The Library Book'' "a wide-ranging, deeply personal and terrifically engaging investigation of humanity's bulwark against oblivion: the library." ''The Library Book'' became a ''New York Times'' Best Seller.

Television adaptation

As of 2019, Orlean is slated to collaborate with

James Ponsoldt James Ponsoldt is an American film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed the drama films '' Off the Black'' (2006) and '' Smashed'' (2012), the romantic comedy-drama ''The Spectacular Now'' (2013), and the dramas '' The End of the Tour'' ( ...

to write and executive-produce an adaption for television.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Library Book, The 2018 non-fiction books 1986 in Los Angeles Books about books Books about Los Angeles Books by Susan Orlean Works set in the 1980s

Development and publication

Subject matter

Reception

Television adaptation

See also

References