The Librarianist

The Librarianist (2023) by Patrick deWitt tells the story of elderly Bob Comet, a retired librarian and eccentric. When Bob unexpectedly encounters a lost resident of a senior center, he stumbles into an opportunity to volunteer at the center—a life change that brings about a series of surprises and ultimately restores his connection with others. The Librarianist is deWitt’s fifth novel. He wrote the screenplay for the feature film Terri, which was presented at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and starred John C. Reilly. Accolades for his novels include the Man Booker Prize for Fiction shortlist; Canada’s Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction; the Scotiabank Giller Prize; and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for The Sisters Brothers—deWitt’s second novel, published in 2011. His third novel, Undermajordomo Minor (2015), was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. The Librarianist was awarded the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction by the Oregon Book Awards in 2024.

This guide references the 2023 paperback by Ecco/Harper Collins.

Content Warning: The novel and this guide reference suicide.

Plot Summary

In 2005, retired librarian Bob Comet is going about his daily walk when he unexpectedly meets a confused elderly woman who wandered away from the Gambell-Reed Senior Center. Bob walks the woman, who is nicknamed Chip, back to the center, where he learns of a volunteer opportunity. Determined to share with its residents his love of books, Bob convinces the center’s director, Maria, to allow him to read aloud there. When the seniors show no interest in the stories Bob shares, he is undeterred and continues, upon Maria’s suggestion, showing up but without his books. Gradually, a few of the residents grow willing to hold conversations with Bob. The narrative reveals a bit of Bob’s backstory—he was happily married to a woman named Connie, who left Bob to marry Bob’s best friend, Ethan Augustine. Bob never heard from Connie nor Ethan again and one day received word that Ethan was struck by a car as a pedestrian. Bob quietly went on with his life, working at the library and reading.

Everything changes one day when Chip goes missing once again and Bob, along with residents Linus and Jill, set out to search for her. When Chip’s son arrives at Gambell Reed, Bob is struck by how familiar he looks. He realizes that the man is Ethan and Connie’s son and that the woman called Chip is his former wife, Connie.

The narrative shifts to the time frame spanning 1942 to 1960. As a child, Bob is quirky and awkward around people, finding refuge in books. He earns a degree from a library program and settles into a position with the Portland Public Library. When Bob is 23, his mother dies after a swift bout with cancer. It is at the library where Bob meets both Connie and Ethan. Connie is the daughter of a local zealot who frequents the library but requires Connie to cover herself with a large cloak. After her father is banned from a library because of an altercation, Connie comes to the library alone to check out books for him. In time, she and Bob get to know one another and Bob, after a great deal of teasing on Connie’s part, finally invites her to his house.

Bob meets Ethan in an unusual manner after helping Ethan, whose apartment is near the library, hide out from the would-be murderer whom Ethan is convinced is waiting to ambush him in his apartment. While Ethan waits out the intruder in the library, he reads Crime and Punishment, which Bob deems the perfect book for the circumstances. Bob begins a routine of meals with Ethan at a nearby diner, and his relationship with Connie also flourishes. When Connie’s strict father passes away, she is finally free to bring her relationship with Bob out in the open. Bob lives in constant fear, however, that Connie and Ethan will meet. He is certain that, if this is to happen, they will fall in love with one another, recognizing that Ethan is far better suited to Connie than Bob. Bob intentionally keeps them apart, but the inevitable happens when Ethan sees Connie reading Crime and Punishment on the bus and knows instantly who she is. Soon after, Ethan unexpectedly disappears and Bob hears nothing from him for five weeks.

When Ethan emerges, he introduces Bob and Connie to his fiancée, Eileen, whom he met in Acapulco. When Ethan tries to end the engagement weeks later, however, Eileen reacts violently, landing Ethan in the hospital. Bob insists Ethan convalesce at his and Connie’s home. During this time, Bob’s worst fears are realized as Connie and Ethan grow increasingly close and then begin an affair. As Bob receives confirmation of the affair, the section ends.

The novel’s third section takes place in 1945 when Bob is 11. He decides to run away from home and successfully does so by sneaking onto a train. When two eccentric elderly women, named Ida and June, find him in their reserve car, they inadvertently take Bob under their wing and he follows them to a town called Astoria. There, Ida and June—actors rehearsing a two-person play they plan to perform—live in a hotel run by a man named Mr. More. Eccentric in his own right, Bob settles in among the unusual bunch, which also consists of an elderly man named Mr. Whitsell, who tends a tropical garden he has planted at the hotel. Ida and June offer to support Bob, providing him with room and board, in exchange for his agreeing to learn the drum accompaniment for their performance. Bob’s time with Ida and June ends abruptly when police are called in to Astoria to still a riot between two rival groups of miners. An officer recognizes Bob from a “missing person” flier and drives him back to Portland.

The novel’s final section returns to 2006 as Bob realizes Chip’s true identity. Unsure how to proceed knowing that Connie is alive, but that she suffers from severe dementia, Bob keeps to himself, staying home and temporarily ceasing his volunteer work. A sudden fall on his stairs, however, lands Bob in the hospital and signals that he is growing too frail to continue to live in his home alone. When Maria invites Bob to move in to the Gambell-Reed Senior Center—explaining that Connie has been relocated to another facility by her son—Bob accepts.

Bob begins a quiet but content life at Gambell-Reed. His thoughts continuously return to Connie, however, and he convinces Maria to place him in touch with Sam, Connie and Ethan’s son. One day the two men meet, and Bob shares photos and details of Sam’s parents with Sam. Bob praises Ethan, telling Sam what an honorable man he was.