Robin Sloan

Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore

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A New York Times bestseller, Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore is an entirely charming and lovable first novel of mysterious books and dusty bookshops; it is a witty and delightful love-letter to both the old book world and the new.

Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone — and serendipity, coupled with sheer curiosity, has landed him a new job working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead they simply borrow impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he's embarked on a complex analysis of the customers' behaviour and roped his friends into helping to figure out just what's going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore…
'The pages swell with Mr Sloan's nerdy affection and youthful enthusiasm for both tangible books and new media… [but] the ties that bind the story are friendship and vitality for life. This is a clever and whimsical tale with a big heart' The Economist
Shortlisted for the LA Times Book Award for First Fiction.
This book is currently unavailable
285 printed pages
Copyright owner
Bookwire
Original publication
2012
Publication year
2012
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Impressions

  • Надежда Косоуроваshared an impression7 years ago
    👍Worth reading
    🔮Hidden Depths
    💡Learnt A Lot

Quotes

  • Anet Acogidohas quoted5 years ago
    l takes a sharp breath and I know
  • Anet Acogidohas quoted5 years ago
    I feel a little whirl of dislocation—the trademark sensation of the world being more closely knit together than you expected.
  • Anet Acogidohas quoted5 years ago
    I believe I can now detect a certain strain of weirdness with lab-grade precision.

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