Bartlett is a journalist playing at being a storyteller - lucky for me, her the facts and characters in her story overcame her stilted narration. The narrative itself meandered, wandered even, from place to place. I expect better from a journalist who would be expected to write in consecutive peices.
But the characters and their immersion in the rare book world saved the book for me. The people, trivia and quotes that littered this layman's education in the world of rare book collection made plodding through bland portions of the text worth the trouble.