akeThe Librarianist

 by Patrick deWitt

I have read other books by  this author including French Exit and Sisters Brothers and thought they were okay.  I really enjoyed this book, maybe because it is about a Librarian, but I found it a nice gentle story.

Bob Comet is  retired Librarian.  After he retired he seems to have been basically a recluse.  One day he is out and encounters an old lady who seems disoriented.  He finds a sign around her neck indicating where she lives and he takes her back to her care home.  While there he meets the manager of the facility and agrees to come and talk to the residents about books. He does that a few times but it doesn't go well -- they aren't really interested in book talks so he starts coming back just to visit with the residents.

As the story progresses we find out that Bob had two really good friends in his early adult hood, a male friend and his wife.  Initially he tries to avoid having his wife and friend meet but eventually they do.  They three of them do things together.  Bob is devastated when soon after his wife leaves him for his friend.  He never develops any other relationships after that just does his job at the library.  About a year after his wife leaves him, Bob learns that his friend has been killed by a car.  He feels there is some justice in that.  He imagines his wife will come back to him, but she never does and he never tries to find her.

The book then goes on, in a strange diversion, not sure of the purpose or value of it.  When he is a young boy Bob is living with his mother. One day his mother leaves him overnight with some friends so she can have an evening with a male friend.  Bob is upset by her "abandoning" him and jumps on a bus.

On the bus he is befriended by two women entertainers who take him under their wing and take him with them as an unofficial, unpaid assistant.  After a week or so the local sheriff recognizes him and arranges for him to get home.  There is no mention in the book about reception he gets when he gets home.

Eventually Bob's health  fails and he ends up moving into the care home.

It was a gentle story, I enjoyed it.