The Mechanic's Institute Library is almost the last of the indulgences I allow myself. It is a private library in San
Francisco, located at Fifty-Seven Post Street. I justify my membership by using the library rather like an shared office in downtown San Francisco, a place to meet people and relax before or after meetings elsewhere in the city.
The library has many charms, chief among them is that it's the home of the oldest chess club in North America (take that, New York) and it has some very lively book groups especially including a long-standing Proust book group.
The library has just announced the formation of another book group, this one titled Forgotten Classics and I'm positive you can divine the focus of the group from its appellation (eventhough I think there's an inherent contradiction). This stalwart band of readers are tackling Vanity Fair on the evening of February 5th and I applaud them for their dedication to their mission. Next up are Alessandro Manzoni's The Betrothed, Honore de Balzac's Pere Goriot and Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavrandatter: The Bridal Wreath, The Mistress of Husaby and The Cross. (We think there's a comparative lit major in the room.)
Should you ever find yourself in San Francisco and you need to retreat to a swath of civilization to catch your breath, find your bearings and collect yourself, you certainly could do worse than The Mechanic's Institute Library, my desk in San Francisco.
