Think ICT

Book Review: All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley. 

A few weeks ago I happened on a book recommendation and decided I was definitely ready to read about beautiful things in the world. The author worked as a security guard for 10 years at the Met. The story starts with an understanding of how he even came to apply for the job — after his older brother died of cancer and the author was basically in grief mode and looking for ways to make sense of it all. My intent in reading this book was to learn more about the Met (since I’ve spent hardly any time in NYC and never been to this museum), to gain a better sense of what sort of art is there, as well as how it affects us as humans in search of beauty and meaning. 

The book is wonderful! While learning about his personal journey through grief, I also decided this is a good reference book for me to someday visit the Met. Just a few examples: On page 83 I learned about the Met’s Cloisters building which is separate from the main museum. I looked that one up on the map which piqued my interest in looking at all of NYC on the map. On page 111 the Islamic wing is described with all its artwork, mosaic tiles, and so on. I have no idea how I lived my younger years in upstate NY and hardly ever went to NYC. Now the museum is on my bucket list for some future road trip.