The Power of Art – Book Chat with BUMC

This year, the book for our two-congregation book discussion with Bethesda United Methodist Church (BMUC) is Patrick Bringley’s memoir, All the Beauty in the World (2023), included by NPR and the New York Public Library on their “best books of the year” lists, and the winner of a Marfield Prize for outstanding writing about the arts.  The book discussion will take place at Beth El.

All the Beauty in the World recounts Bringley’s experience following the tragic death of his beloved brother Tom, at age 26. Grieving, Bringley left his glamorous post-college job at the New Yorker magazine to work as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “the most beautiful place he knew.” He hoped that being surrounded by art would provide solace as he mourned his brother. During his tenure at the museum, Bringley studied the artworks he guarded, gaining new perspectives on mortality, faith, and other dimensions of the human experience.

Along with BUMC, the Beth El Library Committee, the Women of Beth El, and Men’s Club are co-sponsors of this program.

Questions? Please contact Robin Jacobson at librarian@adasisrael.org.