Christine Coulson

I recommend reading this in one or two sittings to appreciate the narrative flow. I did not do this and found it choppy until I finally read the remaining portion of the book in one session. The stories are a mix of magical, quirky, and factual. Sometimes its hard to sort. The best way to describe the experience is to think of it as a romp through The Met as the author creates characters around actual works and settings in the building. Once I tried to stop figuring out what was real or not, I thoroughly enjoyed the magical and imaginary happenings.
It's a short read, a series of vignettes, that will either work for the reader or not. I particularly loved the first and the last, but others may find favorites throughout the collection.… (mais)

Uneven collection of short stories about the Metropolitan Museum of Art: its personnel, some of its art works, patrons. Some I liked better than others. The author worked there for many years; I could feel her love for it shine through. Some stories included fantasy.
My favorites:
"Adam": a statue of Adam and how he tries to help a guard, with devastating results to the statue.
"Lost": Melvin, a laid-off man, who enters a room kept the way the wealthy owner had left it, sits down on a sofa, and...
"Found": Melvin's lonely briefcase, stuffed with blank sheets of paper, and how it sparks a panic among staff and visitors.
"Papercuts": After the death of the unobtrusive humble sorter of paper bags with the Met logo, known only as the Rubber Band Man, Edith, a staff member discovers his secret life.

Many of the characters appear in several stories.… (mais)