Eric Stone
I tracked this down because I’m a bit obsessed with the Boston Athenaeum. It’s the kind of place I’ve actually skipped work for, just to spend a few hours disappearing into those halls. I went into this expecting - honestly, hoping - to be transported back there. I wanted the architectural history and the dust and the specific feeling of being inside that building.
While Katherine Wolff does cover how the place came to be, the "purpose" of this book is something else entirely. Instead of a deep dive into the institution’s bones, it felt more like it was checking boxes I wasn't particularly interested in. It’s hard to find, which usually makes a book feel like a hidden gem once you finally get your hands on it, but this one just left me wanting.
It’s enlightening in parts, and I’ll never say a book about such a grand institution has no value, but the "vibe" wasn't there for me. It didn't take me back to those afternoons I spent playing hooky from the real world. If you're looking for a sociological history focused on the Athenaeum's place in American cultural history it's fine, but it didn't capture the magic of the actual library for me.
I tracked this down because I’m a bit obsessed with the Boston Athenaeum. It’s the kind of place I’ve actually skipped work for, just to spend a few hours disappearing into those halls. I went into this expecting - honestly, hoping - to be transported back there. I wanted the architectural history and the dust and the specific feeling of being inside that building.
While Katherine Wolff does cover how the place came to be, the "purpose" of this book is something else entirely. Instead of a deep dive into the institution’s bones, it felt more like it was checking boxes I wasn't particularly interested in. It’s hard to find, which usually makes a book feel like a hidden gem once you finally get your hands on it, but this one just left me wanting.
It’s enlightening in parts, and I’ll never say a book about such a grand institution has no value, but the "vibe" wasn't there for me. It didn't take me back to those afternoons I spent playing hooky from the real world. If you're looking for a sociological history focused on the Athenaeum's place in American cultural history it's fine, but it didn't capture the magic of the actual library for me.