Book Club

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

by Patrick Bringley

Daytime Session: Tuesday, March 17, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Location: Pratt Munson Library, 510 Henry St., Utica, N.Y. 13502

Join us for the launch of the Munson Book Club! We’ll explore books about art, culture, and creativity— starting with Patrick Bringley’s heartfelt memoir of his decade as a museum guard at The Met.

About the Book

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 glamourous fledgling career at The New Yorker, Patrick Bringley never thought that 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 your 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.

Reserve a Copy

The Mid-York Library System has 20 copies available for Book Club members through a local partnering library. To reserve, call the partnering library below (different for each book) and mention the Munson Book Club. You may pick up the book there or request delivery to your home library.

Mid-York Library System Copies

Partnering Library

Kirkland Town Library

📞 315-853-2038
📍 55 ½ College St., Clinton, N.Y. 13323

Library Location and Directions

The Library is located on the second floor of the Pratt Munson Academic Building at 510 Henry St., Utica, N.Y. 13502.

Parking Options

• Main Munson parking lot: entrance off State Street
• Parking lot behind the Studio Building: entrance off William Street
• Parking lot behind the Student Life Building: entrance off William Street

On-street parking is also available on Henry Street on the southern side of the street only.

Building Access

• To gain access to the Academic Building, please call Library Services at 315-927-8586.
• The building is handicapped accessible at the north side entrance via a ramp that extends from the east side of the building (closest to State Street). An elevator is located in the center of the building.
• Please note that access to the Academic Building from the parking lot behind the Studio Building is limited to a staircase.