Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

A Novel

By: Robin Sloan

Narrated by: Ari Fliakos

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

A gleeful and exhilarating tale of global conspiracy, complex code-breaking, high-tech data visualization, young love, rollicking adventure, and the secret to eternal life - mostly set in a hole-in-the-wall San Francisco bookstore.

The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone - and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead “checking out” impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he’s embarked on a complex analysis of the customers’ behavior and roped his friends into helping to figure out just what’s going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore.

With irresistible brio and dazzling intelligence, Robin Sloan has crafted a literary adventure story for the 21st century, evoking both the fairy-tale charm of Haruki Murakami and the enthusiastic novel-of-ideas wizardry of Neal Stephenson or a young Umberto Eco, but with a unique and feisty sensibility that’s rare to the world of literary fiction. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it sounds like: an establishment you have to enter and will never want to leave, a modern-day cabinet of wonders ready to give a jolt of energy to every curious listener, no matter the time of day.

©2012 Robin Sloan (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Enchanting

This was a beautiful one, well written, well narrated, smart, funny, and sharp. But above all that, something very rare: charm.

It really was “the right book exactly, at exactly the right time.”

Maybe the first time a happy ending brought a tear to my eye

A adventure and a mystery, but subtle. The good guys are good, and the bad guy is bad without killing anyone in a gruesome way. Almost a a story you could tell your kids

Reads like a thriller.

This fun, fast paced book reads like a spy thriller. Actually it's more like a nerd thriller. It was a nice blend of high-tech and old world. It was funny and riveting. I couldn't stop listening. Ari Fliakos's narration added a nice touch to the story.

Just Google It

What a delightful story of friendship, ingenuity, perseverance, and writing one's own life-story.
The narrator brought the book to life and made it feel like I was right there with Clay, Mr. Penumbra, Cat, Neil and the gang.
If the purpose of a book is to entertain then, I believe, Mr. Sloan did a wonderful job.

It’s good, but could have been great

Spoilers ahead:
You can TELL this book was written by a guy. There are precisely four female characters in the entirety of the book, and only one of them has even a minor part in the plot, and of course she’s a romantic interest to the protagonist. The tech guy digitizes, shall we say, upper female anatomy (why? REASONS). And i feel like some of the secret society stuff was needlessly vague or needlessly specific. It was still an entertaining read but it could have been better with a more critical editor.

2nd Time Through

The first time I read this book I knew that it was quirky and charming. I just finished listening for the 2nd time, with several years in between, and realized that it's a treasure. The technology from over a decade ago doesn't hold up the best, but don't let that deter you. I loved all the characters and even the ones who appear to be minor are so well rounded and play a role in the end. I'm sure I will listen again - that's my criteria for a great story.

Good key to life

Just an enjoyable story with such great narration. I felt myself cheering on their quest for cracking the code without feeling bogged down by “tech wizardry”. I loved that there was an epilogue as well.

Great story!

I liked the foreshadowing used in the fictional book referenced in the story. I also liked the conclusion.

Still Thinking about this Book!!!

I am not much of a fiction reader; I prefer nonfiction most days, but occasionally I am drawn into a good story. I was hooked almost immediately, by the narrator's artful presentation and timing...and the main character, an intelligent, yet unemployed, geeky, introvert living in San Francisco working in a mysterious 24 hour bookstore, just piqued my interest. I am not a tech person, but I learned a lot from the technical conversations and descriptions of what it is like to be a Google employee and to view solving the problems of this mystery through high tech means. It was a wonderful, thought provoking adventure, and I learned things that have been beneficial in my everyday life. It has been months since I listened to this book, and I am still thinking about it regularly. I would definitely recommend it to my friends, and l plan to listen to it again.

The Zeitgeist of the Millennial Generation

The world of San Francisco at the beginning of the twenty first century in all its nerdy (but not hipster) fun is the setting for Mr. Penumbra''s 24 Hour Bookstore. And fun it is. Especially if you know the city as Robin Sloan so obviously does and exploits it for maximum effect - from the "Gourmet Grotto" i.e. the Powell Street mall's food court, which is exactly as portrayed, to-the-down at heel section of Broadway, described more innocuously than it actually is.

But even now (in 2013), the book feels both modern and nostalgic at the same time. The obsession with working at Google particularly dates the story to a very specific epoch. My favorite character is Mr. Penumbra. The performance holds up and I will revisit this book in the future, when I'm in the mood to time travel to the halcyon days of San Fran in 2010.

Recommend.