An English Library Journey
With Detours to Wales and Northern Ireland
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Eye Books
Published:22nd Mar '22
Should be back in stock very soon
‘An eccentric homage and passionate clarion call’ – TLS
'A hymn of praise to the palaces of delight that should grace every street corner. Absolutely exquisite.' Ian McMillan
John Bevis is a writer and book-lover on an eccentric quest: to obtain a membership card from every library authority in England.
In a ten-year mission criss-crossing the country – from Solihull to Slough, from Cleveland to Cornwall – he enrols at libraries of all shapes and sizes: monuments to Art Deco or Brutalism; a converted corset factory; one even shaped like a pork pie.
With the architectural eye of Pevsner and the eavesdropping ear of Bill Bryson, he engages us at every step with anecdotes and aperçus about the role of the public library in our national life, while ruing its decline in the age of austerity.
As interested in the people he finds as he is in the buildings and their history, he is a humane, witty and erudite guide. The result is a book to be treasured by anyone who has ever used a library.
‘Following in the tyre tracks of the inter-war travel writer H.V. Morton, Bevis stitches overheard conversations about good lagers, unreliable printers and Only Fools and Horses into a state-of-the-nation collage. An eccentric homage and passionate clarion call’
‘A highly readable quixotic adventure’ -- New Statesman
‘Absolutely the sort of thing I love. With his very amusing take on things, John Bevis has basically been a mystery shopper at every library service in the country’ -- Ian Anstice, editor, Public Libraries News
‘A hymn of praise to that everyday outpost of civilisation and culture, the library. Read it and fall back in love with those palaces of delight that should, and maybe one day will, grace every street corner and village centre again. Let those who dared to close libraries read this love letter and hang their heads in shame’ -- Ian McMillan
‘An eloquent gazetteer of contemporary intellectual and political failure. Essential reading’ -- Ken Worpole
‘Absolutely the sort of thing I love. With his very amusing take on things, John Bevis has basically been a mystery shopper at every library service in the country’
-- Ian Anstice, editor, Public Libraries News
‘It’s such a great idea and such a fascinating project. I wish I’d thought of it first!’
-- Lonesome Reader
‘Fans of Bill Bryson are sure to enjoy Bevis – his style has the same combination of fine observation and humane wit. For anyone who loves their local library, this gentle travelogue is a relaxing way to while away the hours until your next visit’
-- The Shelf of Unread Books
‘An insightful and perceptive guide to the library world. It is charming, endearing and very satisfying. The author captures the essence of the English library in the present age of austerity’
-- Chez Maximka
Bevis’ writing style and witty observations [are] reminiscent of Bill Bryson. A wonderful read for any book lover, and a bright beacon calling us all to do whatever we can to keep these wonderful institutions open and accessible’
-- Ramblings of a No
ISBN: 9781785633089
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 24mm
Weight: 400g
272 pages