AN INTERNATIONAL No. 1 BESTSELLERSelected as a Washington Post Book of the SummerI absolutely adored it NINA STIBBEFrom bestselling and awardwinning author Patrick deWitt comes a novel about an ordinary man who thought lifes surprises were behind him until a chance encounter changed everythingBob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books in a mintcolored house in Portland Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior centre that is her home. Hoping to fill the void hes known since retiring Bob begins volunteering at the center. Here as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob and following a brush with a painful complication from his past the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed. Behind Bob Comets straight man facade is the story of an unhappy childs runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War of true love won and stolen away of the purpose and pride found in the librarians vocation and the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses.