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All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me



by
Patrick Bringley

Edition
Hardcover edition
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Imprint
Simon & Schuster (Adult)
ISBN
9781982163303
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
Illustrations/Images: Nudity/Partial Nudity , Language: Infrequent Use
$24.10   $20.08
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A fascinating, revelatory portrait of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its treasures by a former New Yorker staffer who spent a decade as a museum guard.

Millions of people climb the grand marble staircase to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every year. But only a select few have unrestricted access to every nook and cranny. They’re the guards who roam unobtrusively in dark blue suits, keeping a watchful eye on the two million square foot treasure house. Caught up in his glamorous fledgling career at The New Yorker, Patrick Bringley never thought he’d be one of them. Then his older brother was diagnosed with fatal cancer and he found himself needing to escape the mundane clamor of daily life. So he quit The New Yorker and sought solace in the most beautiful place he knew.

To his surprise and the reader’s delight, this temporary refuge becomes Bringley’s home away from home for a decade. We follow him as he guards delicate treasures from Egypt to Rome, strolls the labyrinths beneath the galleries, wears out nine pairs of company shoes, and marvels at the beautiful works in his care. Bringley enters the museum as a ghost, silent and almost invisible, but soon finds his voice and his tribe: the artworks and their creators and the lively subculture of museum guards—a gorgeous mosaic of artists, musicians, blue-collar stalwarts, immigrants, cutups, and dreamers. As his bonds with his colleagues and the art grow, he comes to understand how fortunate he is to be walled off in this little world, and how much it resembles the best aspects of the larger world to which he gradually, gratefully returns.

In the tradition of classic workplace memoirs like Lab Girl and Working Stiff, All The Beauty in the World is a surprising, inspiring portrait of a great museum, its hidden treasures, and the people who make it tick, by one of its most intimate observers.

Artworks referenced in the text. Bibliography. Black-and-white illustrations.

POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
Illustrations/Images: Nudity/Partial Nudity , Language: Infrequent Use

Details

Format

Print

Page Count

240

Trim Size

9" x 6"

Dewey

708.147

AR

0: points 0

Genre

Nonfic

Scholastic Reading Counts

0

JLG Release

May 2023

Book Genres

Memoir

Topics

Patrick Bringley. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York City. Art museums. Museum guards. Museum officials and employees. Art history. 

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Praise & Reviews

The Horn Book

Library Journal

Library Journal

Bringley was working in editorial events at The New Yorker when his older brother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he quit to find comfort in the most beautiful place he could think of: New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he served as a guard for 10 years. Billed as both working memoir (e.g., Lab Girl) and a fabulous look at art.

Praise & Reviews

The Horn Book

Library Journal

Library Journal

Bringley was working in editorial events at The New Yorker when his older brother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he quit to find comfort in the most beautiful place he could think of: New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he served as a guard for 10 years. Billed as both working memoir (e.g., Lab Girl) and a fabulous look at art.

Grades 11 & Up
Adult Crossover Nonfiction Plus
For Grades 11 & Up

For the more advanced high school reader who is ready for adult reading and enjoys nofiction, our ACN Category is a great choice. With more sophisticated and challenging themes, these books open up new worlds for teen readers. Help them experience a new world monthly with the 12 books in ACN.

Take note: These selections often contain mature situations and language that could be considered controversial.

14 books per Year
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Interests
Diversity,Mature Readers,LGBTQ+,Nonfiction,Biographies,History
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