The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading

Nonfiction | Essay Collection | Adult | Published in 2024

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Author’s Note-Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Key Figures

James Patterson

Patterson is one of the most commercially successful authors of all time, with an estimated net worth of approximately $800 million as of 2024. He has produced dozens of New York Times bestsellers and remained the most borrowed adult author in UK libraries for over a decade. Additionally, he has won many prestigious awards, including the Edgar Award, International Thriller of the Year, and the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation.

Patterson was born in 1947 in New York to a working-class family. He attained two degrees in English literature before building a career as an advertising executive. This professional experience allowed him to craft his name into a brand that is recognized worldwide, but his prodigious success in the literary field has as much to do with his marketing savvy as with his writing skills. He is known particularly for his fast-paced thrillers and gripping mystery novels, as well as his collaborations with prominent figures such as Bill Clinton (The President Is Missing) and Dolly Parton (Run Rose Run). He is also notable for the sheer volume of work he produces. Patterson’s first book, The Thomas Berryman Number, was published in 1976, and he is due to publish his 400th book, The Texas Murders, in 2025. Patterson maintains his prodigious output by frequently collaborating with other authors. Patterson will often provide his collaborators with an outline for a book, leave them to write the actual text, then edit the resulting manuscript. His process is often akin to the role of a head writer or producer in the film or TV industry than that of a conventional author.

Patterson is a major supporter of adult and child literacy in the US, having donated millions of dollars in grants to schools, scholarships, and independent bookstores. As communicated in his Author’s Note, Patterson’s impetus for writing The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians stemmed from his love of reading, his conviction in the importance of books, and his admiration for booksellers and librarians.

Matt Eversmann

Eversmann is a former US Army Ranger who served in the military for 20 years, including during the Somali Civil War’s Battle of Mogadishu in 1993. He retired in 2008 and has since written numerous books in collaboration with Patterson. Their first book together was the New York Times Bestseller Walk in My Combat Boots (2021) about the experiences of American soldiers on the front line. Eversmann was also credited as co-author on the titles ER Nurses (2021), Walk the Blue Line (2023), American Cops (2023), and American Heroes (2024).

Chris Mooney

Mooney is an international best-selling author from Lynn, Massachusetts. He studied technical writing at Northeastern University in Boston and has taught creative writing at Harvard University. He has written numerous books, primarily thrillers, including the Darby McCormick series and the novel Remembering Sarah (2004), which was nominated for both the Edgar Award and Barry Award for Best Novel. Working with James Patterson, he wrote the New York Times Bestseller Diana, William and Harry (2002), and Walk In My Combat Boots (2021) alongside Eversmann.

The Contributors

Each of the book’s 61 chapters is written from a different first-person point of view of one of the contributors. Nothing has been published about how the contributors were chosen or the method by which their submissions/testimonies were elicited and edited. The names of each contributor are given as the title of their respective chapters, and each of them works in some capacity as either a bookseller or librarian. The unique selling point of this book is that its content provides an inside look into the “secret lives” of those in the book world. These booksellers and librarians work in a range of roles for public, school, and private libraries and chain and independent bookstores across the USA and in Canada.

The variety of experiences, motivations, duties, and specializations of these contributors offers the book nuance and complexity despite the repetitive format of 61 consecutive personal essays. Despite their many differences, all of the contributors to The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians are members of what Patterson deems to be the most “noble” of professions, and they are willing to articulate their personal experiences and convictions for an international audience. They all share a love of reading, a belief in the importance of literacy, and a desire to help others connect with books.