Books by Susan Orlean
“It’s…about the Los Angeles Public Library. It tells, essentially, two narratives. One is about the destruction of the LA Public Library in 1987, through a fire. The other is more of a historical account of the evolution of the library and the librarians who worked in it, the kinds of things that they did for their community and what it’s like today. I like the way that it’s arranged with old-fashioned catalogue cards at the start of each chapter, which broadly identify the themes. It’s a little gimmicky in that way, but I fell for it. It’s really well written. She writes for The New Yorker and is an absolutely terrific writer.” Read more...
Richard Ovenden, Librarian
The Orchid Thief
by Susan Orlean
This is a fun book all about obsession, history and botany. The book begins with this crazy character, John Laroche, who is obsessed with orchids. Susan manages to track him down and, in trying to explain him and her own escalating obsession, she takes us on a jaunt through the Florida swamps and the early history of orchid collecting.
Interviews where books by Susan Orlean were recommended
The Best Narrative Nonfiction, recommended by Catherine Manegold
The author and former New York Times reporter says that some of the very best writing today is nonfiction — and that seductive narratives can yank readers into the most diverse range of subjects
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1
The Care of Books: An Essay on the Development of Libraries and Their Fittings, From the Earliest Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century
by John Willis Clark -
2
Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life
by Eric Klinenberg -
3
The Library Book
by Susan Orlean -
4
The Library: A World History
by James Campbell & Will Pryce (photographer) -
5
The Library at Night
by Alberto Manguel
The best books on Libraries, recommended by Richard Ovenden
The best books on Libraries, recommended by Richard Ovenden
Knowledge is power and nowhere has it been better preserved down the millennia than in libraries. Here Richard Ovenden, author of Burning the Books and the librarian in charge of Oxford University’s Bodleian Libraries, talks us through books that shed light on what libraries are and what they do, and why they remain absolutely vital in our digital age.
