A fascinating, revelatory portrait of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its treasures by a former New Yorker staffer who spent a decade as a museum guard.
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 da...
A fascinating, revelatory portrait of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its treasures by a former New Yorker staffer who spent a decade as a museum guard.
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 glamorous fledgling career at The New Yorker, Patrick Bringley never thought 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 the reader’s 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.
In the tradition of classic workplace memoirs like Lab Girl and Working Stiff, All The Beauty in the World is a surprising, inspiring portrait of a great museum, its hidden treasures, and the people who make it tick, by one of its most intimate observers.
Patrick Bringley worked for ten years as a guard in the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Prior to that, he worked in the editorial events office at The New Yorker magazine. He lives with his wife and children in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. All the Beauty in the World is his first book.
Very simple story but turns out surprisingly touching. Fit right into my dream career fantasy (mine is librarian) sincere recommendation from an absolutely not art person.
To ancient Egyptians, past lives, this life, and future lives are deeply intertwined. The line dividing past, present, and future is very blurred. What a worldview, what a way to live. I feel such a s...To ancient Egyptians, past lives, this life, and future lives are deeply intertwined. The line dividing past, present, and future is very blurred. What a worldview, what a way to live. I feel such a strong affinity and belonging with that culture and people. Or for that matter all civilizations that believe in reincarnation. August 2025, Sarajevo(展开)
All The Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me is written by a former New Yorker staffer Patrick Bringley who spent a decade as a museum guard. 作者在大都会艺术博物馆这个暂时的避难所最终成为他的第二个家,他在这里做了十年保安。我们跟随他...
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0 有用 Miamii 2025-01-11 10:33:22 韩国
As a MET lover, a museum goer and an art appreciator, the book spoke to me.
0 有用 亭子间的婷子 2025-07-18 13:51:28 美国
艺术是最好的治愈良药
0 有用 whatif 2025-06-29 16:39:52 江西
Very simple story but turns out surprisingly touching. Fit right into my dream career fantasy (mine is librarian) sincere recommendation from an absolutely not art person.
0 有用 禅茶一味 2025-08-06 03:32:18 波黑
To ancient Egyptians, past lives, this life, and future lives are deeply intertwined. The line dividing past, present, and future is very blurred. What a worldview, what a way to live. I feel such a s... To ancient Egyptians, past lives, this life, and future lives are deeply intertwined. The line dividing past, present, and future is very blurred. What a worldview, what a way to live. I feel such a strong affinity and belonging with that culture and people. Or for that matter all civilizations that believe in reincarnation. August 2025, Sarajevo (展开)
0 有用 mi 2023-11-26 17:03:58 中国香港
总体来说是一本大都会博物馆遐思集。很像是跟一个好朋友逛Met,跟他一起看他最喜欢的作品,听他聊对艺术的想法,夹杂对哥哥的缅怀,以及对人生的感悟。气氛轻松,没有任何让人望而却步的艺术理论,也没有面目可憎的术语。更难得的是,他不仅描写家人、同事的笔触充满了爱,在谈及在博物馆当保安的经历以及各种各样的游客时,也满是善意与豁达。让人读完觉得这个世界又可爱了几分。