Fiction_L Archives Bartleby short story Dates: 1/29/04,12:51 PM  through  1/30/04,8:00 AM  (16 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to January 2004 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: "Asia Gross" <[removed]@ucpl.lib.mo.us>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 12:51 PM

I am hoping someone will recognize this short story. The patron believes it
is called "Bartleby the Scribner" or something very close to that. It's
about a man who works in a bookstore and responds to every request with the
line "I would prefer not to". She is fairly certain it is an American
story. I know that's not much but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks
for any help.

Asia Gross
Adult Services Librarian
University City Public Library
University City, MO

FROM: Kathleen Stipek <[removed]@exchange.acld.lib.fl.us>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 12:51 PM

That's it, by Herman Melville.

Kathleen Stipek, Alachua County Library District (FMG), 401 East University
Avenue, Gainesville, Florida 32601 (352-334-3939; fax 352-334-3948)

"Non, merci."
--Cyrano de Bergerac

-----Original Message-----
From: Asia Gross [[removed]@ucpl.lib.mo.us]
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 1:42 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Bartleby short story

I am hoping someone will recognize this short story. The patron believes it
is called "Bartleby the Scribner" or something very close to that. It's
about a man who works in a bookstore and responds to every request with the
line "I would prefer not to". She is fairly certain it is an American
story. I know that's not much but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks
for any help.

Asia Gross
Adult Services Librarian
University City Public Library
University City, MO

FROM: Karen Langner <[removed]@tln.lib.mi.us>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 12:56 PM

Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville.

Book description on Amazon:
We all have internal worlds, which are more or less adjusted to the
outside world. But what happens when internal passions begin to take over,
squeezing out our normal reality? Herman Melville's dark and riveting
story tells the tale of Bartleby, and his descent down the rungs of the
ladder of sanity into darkness. It was written during one of the lowest
points of Melville's life, and reflects his own depression over his
apparently failed career. The story is narrated by a successful Wall
Street lawyer, who hires Bartleby to transcribe legal documents. Although
Bartleby begins as a dedicated employee, he one day responds "I would
prefer not to" when asked to do a proofreading job. From there he slips
steadily, "preferring not to" do more and more things that are asked of
him. He gradually withdraws from the living, to a world unfathomable by
others. He loses his job, refuses help from those around him, and
eventually dies destitute in prison, unable or unwilling to help himself
in any way.

On Thu, 29 Jan 2004, Asia Gross wrote:

>
> I am hoping someone will recognize this short story. The patron believes it
> is called "Bartleby the Scribner" or something very close to that. It's
> about a man who works in a bookstore and responds to every request with the
> line "I would prefer not to". She is fairly certain it is an American
> story. I know that's not much but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks
> for any help.
>
>
> Asia Gross
> Adult Services Librarian
> University City Public Library
> University City, MO
>
>
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org
>

FROM: "James, Keri" <[removed]@plsinfo.org>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 12:56 PM

It's Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville. You can find it in Billy Bud, Sailor : and other Stories by Melville. It's probably in many anthologies as well.

Keri James
San Bruno Library

-----Original Message-----
From: Asia Gross [[removed]@ucpl.lib.mo.us]
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 10:42 AM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Bartleby short story

I am hoping someone will recognize this short story. The patron believes it
is called "Bartleby the Scribner" or something very close to that. It's
about a man who works in a bookstore and responds to every request with the
line "I would prefer not to". She is fairly certain it is an American
story. I know that's not much but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks
for any help.

Asia Gross
Adult Services Librarian
University City Public Library
University City, MO

FROM: Vicki Novak - LIBRARYX <[removed]@MAIL.MARICOPA.GOV>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 1:01 PM

This is "Bartleby the Scrivener" by Herman Melville.

Vicki Novak
Adult Services Librarian
[removed]@mail.maricopa.gov

George L. Campbell Branch Library
Maricopa County Library District
17811 N. 32nd St.
Phoenix, AZ 85032
http://mcld.maricopa.gov

-----Original Message-----
From: Asia Gross [[removed]@ucpl.lib.mo.us]
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 11:42 AM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Bartleby short story

I am hoping someone will recognize this short story. The patron believes it
is called "Bartleby the Scribner" or something very close to that. It's
about a man who works in a bookstore and responds to every request with the
line "I would prefer not to". She is fairly certain it is an American
story. I know that's not much but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks
for any help.

Asia Gross
Adult Services Librarian
University City Public Library
University City, MO

FROM: "Lisa Colcord" <[removed]@glendaleaz.com>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 1:06 PM

Perhaps Bartleby the scrivener by Herman Melville.

Lisa

>>> [removed]@ucpl.lib.mo.us 01/29/04 11:44 AM >>>

I am hoping someone will recognize this short story. The patron believes it
is called "Bartleby the Scribner" or something very close to that. It's
about a man who works in a bookstore and responds to every request with the
line "I would prefer not to". She is fairly certain it is an American
story. I know that's not much but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks
for any help.

Asia Gross
Adult Services Librarian
University City Public Library
University City, MO

FROM: "Sarah Herlache" <[removed]@glendaleaz.com>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 1:12 PM

BARTLEBY THE SCRIVENER by Melville.

Sarah Herlache
Foothills Library
Glendale, Arizona

>>> [removed]@ucpl.lib.mo.us 01/29/04 11:41AM >>>

I am hoping someone will recognize this short story. The patron believes it
is called "Bartleby the Scribner" or something very close to that. It's
about a man who works in a bookstore and responds to every request with the
line "I would prefer not to". She is fairly certain it is an American
story. I know that's not much but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks
for any help.

Asia Gross
Adult Services Librarian
University City Public Library
University City, MO

FROM: "Lisa Bailey" <[removed]@mckinneytexas.org>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 1:12 PM

Asia,

That's Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener".

Lisa Bailey

McKinney Memorial Public Library
McKinney, TX 75020
[removed]@mckinneytexas.org

-----Original Message-----
From: [removed]@maillist.webrary.org
[[removed]@maillist.webrary.org]On Behalf Of Asia Gross
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 12:42 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Bartleby short story

I am hoping someone will recognize this short story. The patron believes it
is called "Bartleby the Scribner" or something very close to that. It's
about a man who works in a bookstore and responds to every request with the
line "I would prefer not to". She is fairly certain it is an American
story. I know that's not much but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks
for any help.

Asia Gross
Adult Services Librarian
University City Public Library
University City, MO

FROM: Joyce Saricks <[removed]@juno.com>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 1:18 PM

Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener, perhaps?

Joyce Saricks

"Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and
entertainment doesn't know the first thing about either."
Marshall McLuhan

FROM: [removed]@aol.com
REC'D: 1/29/04, 1:24 PM

"Bartleby the scrivener: A story of Wall Street", by Melville 1853.
Law-office, not bookshop.

Jay Dillon

Jay Dillon Rare Books + Manuscripts
http://www.jaydillon.com

In a message dated 2004-01-29 1:44:30 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[removed]@ucpl.lib.mo.us writes:

> I am hoping someone will recognize this short story. The patron believes it
> is called "Bartleby the Scribner" or something very close to that. It's
> about a man who works in a bookstore and responds to every request with the
> line "I would prefer not to". She is fairly certain it is an American
> story. I know that's not much but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks
> for any help.

FROM: Marcia Allen <[removed]@manhattan.lib.ks.us>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 1:30 PM

This sounds like "Bartleby, the Scrivener" by Herman Melville.

Happy Reading!

Marcia Allen

FROM: Dennis Lien <[removed]@tc.umn.edu>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 2:14 PM

At 10:50 AM 1/29/04 -0800, you wrote:
>It's Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville. You can find it in Billy
Bud, Sailor : and other Stories by Melville. It's probably in many
anthologies as well.

******

not to mention online at:

http://www.bartleby.com/129/

and at

http://www.litrix.com/bartleby/bartl001.htm

Dennis Lien / U of Minnesota Libraries // [removed]@tc.umn.edu

FROM: Sarah Flowers <[removed]@library.sccgov.org>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 2:26 PM

Since this is a widely-known short story and a classic of American
literature, I'm curious about the process that led the original poster
(whose name I don't recall) to put the question to the list. This is not
meant as a flame, but rather as a reflection on how we do reference. For
example, since the title as given by the patron was so close to the true
title, it seems to me that this would have been easily found in most
libraries, even if the librarian had never heard of the story. I did a
keyword search on "Bartleby" in our catalog and got six items, three of
which mentioned "Bartleby the Scrivener" in the title--voila, quick
answer. A Google search isn't as immediately helpful, since the first
four hits relate to Bartleby.com, the e-text company, but #5 is headed "I
would prefer not to" and #9 is headed "Bartleby the Scrivener, Chapter 1."

Now, I understand that we often mistrust the information we get from our
patrons to such a degree that we don't even feel we can start a search,
but either of the two options listed above would have yielded a quicker
answer than a posting to Fiction_L, as effective as that method proved to
be.

Again, I don't intend to flame anyone; I just really believe that we
should always be honing our reference skills by thinking about what we do.

Sarah Flowers, Deputy County Librarian
Santa Clara County Library
1095 N. Seventh St., San Jose, CA 95112
408-293-2326 x3002
[removed]@library.sccgov.org
*** All standard disclaimers apply ***

FROM: "Asia Gross" <[removed]@ucpl.lib.mo.us>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 2:59 PM

I'm the one who posted it, and don't worry I don't take it as a flame. I
was actually working our circulation desk at the time the patron came up
because everyone here is out sick, and all other reference people were at
lunch. I knew it sounded familiar and that I could probably find it if
given even a few minutes to do some keyword searching, but she was going to
look for some other things and I knew that with the desk so busy it would be
faster to submit it to the list and maybe have an answer for her when she
came back up to check out. I know it's completely round about thinking but
at that moment it seemed logical. And I did get her the correct answer,
which is ultimately always my goal.

Asia Gross
Adult Services Librarian
University City Public Library
University City, MO

-----Original Message-----
From: [removed]@maillist.webrary.org
[[removed]@maillist.webrary.org]On Behalf Of Sarah Flowers
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 2:21 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Re: Bartleby Short story

Since this is a widely-known short story and a classic of American
literature, I'm curious about the process that led the original poster
(whose name I don't recall) to put the question to the list. This is not
meant as a flame, but rather as a reflection on how we do reference. For
example, since the title as given by the patron was so close to the true
title, it seems to me that this would have been easily found in most
libraries, even if the librarian had never heard of the story. I did a
keyword search on "Bartleby" in our catalog and got six items, three of
which mentioned "Bartleby the Scrivener" in the title--voila, quick
answer. A Google search isn't as immediately helpful, since the first
four hits relate to Bartleby.com, the e-text company, but #5 is headed "I
would prefer not to" and #9 is headed "Bartleby the Scrivener, Chapter 1."

Now, I understand that we often mistrust the information we get from our
patrons to such a degree that we don't even feel we can start a search,
but either of the two options listed above would have yielded a quicker
answer than a posting to Fiction_L, as effective as that method proved to
be.

Again, I don't intend to flame anyone; I just really believe that we
should always be honing our reference skills by thinking about what we do.

Sarah Flowers, Deputy County Librarian
Santa Clara County Library
1095 N. Seventh St., San Jose, CA 95112
408-293-2326 x3002
[removed]@library.sccgov.org
*** All standard disclaimers apply ***

FROM: <[removed]@bellsouth.net>
REC'D: 1/29/04, 3:16 PM

>
This reminded me of my favorite professor . He liked to 'pop quiz' us on selected works
every so often, and the day after we were assigned to read this work, he asked if we were
ready for a pop quiz. I piped up with "I'd prefer not to" and he just gave me this look (we
ended up not having a quiz that date, after all).

AT

FROM: "Hogan, Jean E." <[removed]@nvcc.edu>
REC'D: 1/30/04, 8:00 AM

Good for you!!!!!!! (At least you showed you were prepared!)

-----Original Message-----
From: [removed]@bellsouth.net [[removed]@bellsouth.net]
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 4:11 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Re: Bartleby the Scrivner

>
This reminded me of my favorite professor . He liked to 'pop quiz' us on
selected works
every so often, and the day after we were assigned to read this work, he
asked if we were
ready for a pop quiz. I piped up with "I'd prefer not to" and he just gave
me this look (we
ended up not having a quiz that date, after all).

AT

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