Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour bookstore, by Robin Sloan


A newly hatched art school graduate, Clay Jannon is desperate for a new job in San Francisco after the economic downturn. He has he lost his web designer position at NewBagel, a failed startup.  He takes a position as the night clerk at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour bookstore, a dim, tall and narrow space with an assortment of “normal” books for sale on the first floor and towering shelves of arcana stretching above.  There don’t seem to be many customers at any hour of the day or night buying books, but an eccentric cast of regulars appears intermittently to borrow the volumes stored above.  Clay has a successful childhood friend who has made it big in tech, and acquires a few more interesting and clever friends as he seeks to figure out just what is going on behind the scenes at his unique and mysterious workplace.  Quirky, like his later Sourdough, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and a delight to spend some time with.  288 pp. 

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