what I read last week
all the beauty in the world by patrick bringley, a leopard-skin hat by anna serre
Good afternoon!
Last week, I read a memoir, All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley, about his time working security at the Metropolitan Museum of Art after his brother’s death.
I also finished A Leopard-Skin Hat, a literary fiction novel written by Anna Serre and translated from French by Mark Hutchinson. Serre explores the lifelong relationship between an unnamed narrator and his friend, Fanny, who struggled with her mental health. Let’s get into it.
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All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley
All the Beauty in the World chronicles Patrick Bringley’s decade-long journey as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Overview: In his twenties, Bringley was working at The New Yorker when his older brother Tom died of cancer in 2008. In the midst of his grief, he “applied for the most straightforward job [he] could think of in the most beautiful place [he] knew.” Bringley writes: “My heart is full, my heart is breaking, and I badly want to stand still for a while.”
Bringley weaves in accounts of his relationship with his beloved brother with his daily life walking the halls of the Met. As a guard, Bringley witnessed both the frenetic energy of tourist crowds and the profound stillness that descends when the galleries empty. He writes about specific artworks that moved him, the eccentric personalities of his fellow guards, and the strange intimacy that develops when you spend years in the company of masterpieces.
The book functions simultaneously as a grief memoir, a love letter to the Met, and a meditation on finding meaning through proximity to beauty.
Opinion: I’ve been wanting to read All the Beauty in the World for some time now, and I’m glad I finally picked it up last week. I love the Met, but I’ve only visited it in the afternoons, when the crowds are at their peak. I wouldn’t necessarily call a visit a meditative experience—I’ve generally been overwhelmed by the sea of people and sheer volume of art. This memoir changed my perspective. Next time, I’ll visit when the museum opens!
Bringley basically takes the reader on an intimate guided tour of the Met, focusing on just a few works, while working in details of his personal life. I loved experiencing it through Bringley’s eyes and appreciating the Met’s quieter rhythms.
That said, I rated this in the 3s as opposed to the 4s, because the writing here doesn’t quite reach the level of other great memoirs. While this book touches on grief and existential life questions, it’s a pretty easy read. Simplicity and accessibility are definitely strengths, but for me, it wasn’t the type of prose that I would underline or that made me reflect too deeply.
Overall: I would recommend this book to anyone interested in museums or the art world!
Rating: 3.8/5
Genre: Memoir
Notable prizes/book clubs/lists: Named one of the best books of the year by the New York Public Library, the Financial Times, the New York Post, Book Riot, and the Sunday Times (London).
Page count: 240 pages
Audio: 6 hours 3 minutes
Movie/TV pairings: The Goldfinch
A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anna Serre (translated from French by Mark Hutchinson)
A Leopard-Skin Hat explores a decades-long friendship between an unnamed narrator and his childhood friend, Fanny, through a series of fragmented scenes and memories.
Overview: The novel traces their relationship from youth into adulthood, as Fanny struggles with severe psychological disorders while the narrator remains devoted to her despite the emotional toll.
Serre structures the book as a collection of brief vignettes rather than a traditional linear narrative. These glimpses reveal Fanny as a complex, tormented figure—sometimes vibrant and magnetic, other times destructive and unreachable.
The novel examines the particular anguish of loving someone whose inner life remains fundamentally mysterious and inaccessible. Serre explores broader questions about the boundaries of human understanding and the impossibility of truly knowing another person, even someone we feel closest to.
Opinion: Serre wrote A Leopard-Skin Hat following the death of her sister, who died by suicide after struggling with her mental health. The novel was originally published in French in 2008 but was recently translated into English by Mark Hutchinson.
Serre’s narrative technique is intriguing. She names Fanny while keeping the narrator anonymous and writes with the third-person perspective. The structure simultaneously creates a feeling of closeness and distance with these characters, ultimately reflecting the overall meaning of A Leopard-Skin Hat. We can feel intensely close to someone while never truly knowing them.
The writing style, combined with the fragmented narrative structure, makes for an ungrounded reading experience. While some readers might be frustrated with this style, I think the disorientation mirrors the narrator’s experience of trying to understand Fanny.
Overall: This book takes you by surprise, and I felt deeply for these characters by the end of this slim novella. This book is not for everyone, as it’s a relatively plotless literary fiction experimental novel that focuses on grief and mental health. But if you’re up for it, it is well worth it!
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Literary Fiction
Notable prizes/book clubs/lists: Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize (2025)
Page count: 122 pages
Audio: 3 hours 31 minutes
Movie/TV pairings: Silver Linings Playbook
consumed 🎬🎧🗞️→
After overextending myself with hate-watching The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Buccaneers, and And Just Like That, I’ve finally found some good TV. I know, I know—I’m late here, but I started watching Slow Horses. I’m obsessed.
cooked 🍳→
