All the Beauty in the World: A Museum Guard's Adventures in Life, Loss and Art (Paperback) - Patrick Bringley

**THE SUNDAY TIMES ART BOOK OF THE YEAR**
**A Financial Times Best Book of 2023**

A revelatory portrait of a great museum and the moving story of one guard's quest to find solace and meaning in art

'Who would have thought that the outstanding art book of you would have been written not by a curator or an art historian or even an artist - but by a museum guard?' Sunday Times

When Patrick's older brother dies at twenty-six, all he wants is to retreat. So, he does. He quits his job and seeks refuge in the most beautiful place he can think of: New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

All the Beauty in the World recounts Patrick's time as a museum guard, keeping quiet vigil over some of our greatest treasures and uncovering the Met's innermost secrets. As his connection to the art and the life that swirls around it grows, so does Patrick - and gradually he emerges transformed by heartbreak, community and the power of art to illuminate life in all its pain, pleasure and hope.

'As luminous as the old masters paintings' Daily Mail
'Consoling and beautiful' Guardian
'Marvellous' Daily Telegraph
'A beautiful tale about beauty. It is also a tale about grief, balancing solitude and comradeship, and finding joy in both the exalted and the mundane' Washington Post

About the Author

Patrick Bringley worked for ten years as a guard in the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Previously, he worked in the editorial events office at the New Yorker magazine. He lectures widely at museums and leads public and private tours of the Met (more information can be found at patrickbringley.com). He lives with his wife and children in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. All the Beauty in the World is his first book.