In the Stacks: Short Stories about Libraries and Librarians

I've had this book on my shelves for years, saving it up for some reason. Turns out I should have just read it years ago so that it could go back out the door again. Very uneven anthology of short stories, each having some connection to libraries, however vague that may be. There are some excellent pieces in here, but as a volume it just doesn't hang together well. Go read M.R. James and Saki short stories, you'll have more fun.

IN THE STACKS was a great buy for a buck, full of fascinating short stories about librarians, libraries, or both. Hard to pick a favorite, but I especially loved the stories from Alice Munro, Francine Prose, John Cheever, Lorrie Moore, Joanne Greenberg, Gina Berriault, Lisa Koger, Sue Kaufman, and, and … ah, hell, I liked almost all of them. There's even a story by Walter Brooks about Wilbur and Mister Ed. Yeah that TV horse and his guy, that's the one. There were only a few, the older mystery-type chestnuts that didn't appeal. Overall though, a really charming and absorbing collection of very good stories. Thanks to the editor, former Beverly Hills librarian, Michael Cart, for putting them all together here. Highly recommended.

- Tim show more Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

This anthology ranges from American to Italian to Russian to British writers, older works to contemporary, and from the mundane to the fantastic. Each supposedly revolves around librarians or libraries, but some of them are a bit of a stretch. The works that do, however, show no small amount of reverence toward those hallowed bastions of knowledge, and librarians or those who love them should find some delight in the stories.

It is hard to critique anthologies, particularly ones as diverse as this, but among the gems in this collection were "The Exchange" by Ray Bradbury, which puts to words what readers can only experience, "Gloss on a Decision of the Council of Nicaea" by Joanne Greenberg, who mixes a young librarian's passion for show more reading into a passion for civil rights, and "A General in the Library" by Italo Calvino, which gives a wry nod and a sly wink to the subtle power of reading.

Others fall a bit flat - I have never been a big fan of Ursula K. Le Guin, and her short story "The Phoenix" failed to win me over. Lorrie Moore, who I had never heard of before, similarly did not impress me. Others were mediocre and almost forgettable.

However, the ones that did impress were lasting. Several of the authors I had never picked up before, despite having familiarity with their names, but after reading them, I immediately checked out more of their work from - where else? - my local library.

This is well-worth a read for librarians or their patrons, as even though all of the stories fail to hit their mark, the ones that do capture the spirit of libraries completely. show less

I was expecting a cute book with a cute gimmick, a book with stories about librarians. What librarian wouldn’t buy that? I was surprised to find lots of good stories, stories that would have been good whether the main character was a librarian or a garbage collector. Favorites were stories by John Cheever, Saki, and Walter R. Brooks.

"Short Stories About Libraries and Librarians" - How could I pass that up?
Well, I didn't!
However, overall, I have to say this collection was good, but not awe-inspiring. Too many of the stories merely featured libraries or librarians, rather than having something to say *about* them. The collection as a whole didn't give me any particular sense of cohesiveness.

A general in the library /Italo Calvino
A very short story, well-crafted, about the unintended effect a library has on the soldiers assigned to censor its holdings.

The phoenix /Ursula K. LeGuin
A re-read; this appeared in LeGuin's collection: The Compass Rose. A nice companion to the Calvino piece; it also takes place in a country at war. A woman risks her life to save the show more librarian across the street. But his views are frustratingly ambiguous. Lovely and thought-provoking, like all of LeGuin's work.

Gloss on a decision of the Council of Nicaea /Joanne Greenberg
A librarian joins a protest about African-Americans not being allowed to use the public library due to segregation; and ends up in a jail cell with several black women, one of whom is particularly hostile to her. A deft commentary on the complexity of race relations.

Miss Vincent /Maria Dabrowska
A completely incompetent librarian needs to be fired - but the woman in charge finds it harder to accomplish than it ought to be.

Who is it can tell me who I am? /Gina Berriault
A homeless man asks if he can sleep in the library, and the librarian, unsurprisingly, tells him he cannot. Add some philosophy. I didn't find this one very memorable.

The public library /Isaac Babel
More of a vignette than a story, describing a library in Russia.

Community life /Lorrie Moore
Although a library is in the story, this is a story about a horrible relationship, and the woman who feels trapped in it, partially because of her status as an immigrant. I didn't enjoy it.

The cobweb /Zona Gale
Again, although one of the sisters in this story runs a library of sorts, the story is about the relationship between the two sisters, not about the library. Again, didn't love it.

The retirement party /Lisa Koger
A librarian with no desire to ever have been a librarian, after 20 years in the same position, is attending the retirement of her superior. No one realizes how trapped she feels, and how little of life she has experienced. people praise her for caring for her ailing father, not realizing how it has destroyed her life. Eh. I had no sympathy for the woman.

Summer librarian /Sue Kaufman
Again, although the protagonist is a part-time librarian, the story is about a relationship... she is pursued by a boy she thinks is too young for her, but he's awfully persistent... and awfully handsome. I thought it was really sweet.

QL 696.C9 /Anthony Boucher
This library murder mystery would probably be found to be more clever by people who are not actually familiar with cataloging systems.

Ed has his mind improved /Walter R. Brooks
You know, I never knew that the talking horse, Mr. Ed, was a literary figure before he starred in his own TV show. Well, he was, and this is one of the stories, in which the horse develops a passion for reading Westerns. Funny, and historically interesting.

The tractate middoth /M.R. James
A most excellent and spooky classic horror story. I love pretty much anything with a cursed manuscript, and this one really delivered. Good fun.

The story of St. Vespaluus /Saki
A peer tells his friend, a Baroness, the story of the fictitious St. Vespaluus, a hypocritical heir. Very good. You can read it here: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/StoVes.shtml

The trouble of Marcie Flint /John Cheever
A woman with a really crappy husband, who lives in a town with no library, has an affair with a man who argues (in vain) in favor of opening a library. Again, the focus is one the relationship, not the library (or the potential thereof.)

Rubber life /Francine Prose
A librarian develops a crush on a patron, and starts reading all of the books he checks out. An affair begins... but a ghost unexpectedly interferes... A little odd, but not bad.

Hard-luck stories /Alice Munro
Some old friends get together for lunch and gossip about affairs and such. Annoying people. Not my kind of thing.

Exchange /Ray Bradbury
An excessively sentimental, but extremely effective story. A soldier comes home on leave, but none of his friends are there to greet him. But he visits the public library, where the librarian remembers him from boyhood, and they take a trip down memory lane together, with the help of the books...

The library of Babel /Jorge Luis Borges.
A re-read. Classic speculative piece about a Universe that is also a library. show less

This was an interesting and entertaining collection of short stories, each of which obviously pertains in some way to a library.

Included are stories by many prominent and talented writers, like Italo Calvino, Alice Munro, Jorge Luis Borges, and Ray Bradbury.

How could a bookworm not enjoy this book? I definitely enjoyed indulging my literary geek!

Dang. I hate artsy-fartsy Literature. The characters are neurotic, cruel, confused, hypocritical, hypercritical, and whiny. And they drink too much. I thought a whole collection of stories about people who spend their time connecting the public with enlightenment would have some bright spots, but no.