[Fully Revised Edition] I'm a Security Guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

★ #1 Bestseller in Korea's Top 3 Bookstores ★
★ Book of the Year, selected by critic Lee Dong-jin ★
★ Amazon Bestseller for 40 Consecutive Weeks ★

“When I lost the strength to live in this world
“I decided to hide in the most beautiful place I know.”

The moment when life falls apart due to the pain of loss
The story of a man who hid in the most wondrous world.

We sometimes delude ourselves into thinking life is always going according to plan, that we can always direct it the way we want. That's what happened to Patrick Bringley, an ambitious young man. After graduating from college, he landed a job at The New Yorker, in a high-rise office overlooking the Empire State Building, and assumed his life would continue upward, one day reaching the "big leagues." As he built his career, dreaming of brilliant success, his intelligent and caring older brother, Tom, was diagnosed with terminal cancer at a young age and passed away. The illness and death of his brother, whom he had relied on, left Bringley devastated, unable to do anything that required "striking, scraping, pushing, and clinging to move forward."

Then, after his brother's funeral, he suddenly recalls a visit to an art museum with his mother. Surrounded by beauty in silence, an art museum where sadness and sweetness are permitted. A security guard stands quietly in a corner of the exhibition hall, watching the visitors. Finally, Bringley decides to escape this world of constant progress and simply let himself go, doing the simplest of tasks in the most beautiful place he knows. And so, in the fall of 2008, he began his second life as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

7 pyeong of space, 300 million works of art,
With over 700 million visitors annually,
The true meaning of life and death, everyday life and art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, often called "one of the world's top three art museums," boasts 230,000 square feet of space, 3 million works of art, and 7 million visitors annually. Working as a security guard in this massive museum, requiring minimal distraction and tense attention for eight to twelve hours a day, offered a stark contrast to the author's intense workday in the heart of New York's skyscrapers. Every morning, before the visitors arrive, Bringley gazes at the works on the walls in the quiet gallery, experiencing a powerful immersion reminiscent of Rembrandt or Botticelli. Encountering Bernardo Daddario's paintings, capturing moments of suffering, he conjures up a stark, heartbreaking poignancy. Meanwhile, at a special exhibition on Michelangelo, he gazes at the drawings of the genius sculptor, drawn at the age of eighty, and is struck by the tireless diligence of the artist. Mary Cassatt's tender paintings evoke an inexplicable warmth, "like a sun-drenched glow."

In this way, the author observes the works of masters, depicting moments of profound grandeur, beauty, or heartbreak, more closely than anyone else, and begins to discover "moments where each particle holds meaning." Following the author's gentle yet warm reflections, we come to realize that "everyday life is contradictory, sometimes tedious, and sometimes breathtakingly beautiful," and that "life is a process of living quietly, struggling, growing, and creating something new."

A beautiful and huge art museum and the works that fill it,
And about the people who lead that space
A witty and relatable chronicle

This book's popularity with many readers likely stems from its profound reflections on life and art, coupled with its portrayal of the diverse landscape of the museum. The Metropolitan Museum of Art employs approximately 2 staff members, including curators, conservators, painters, HVAC specialists, and transporters. Among them, the 600 or so security guards, who call themselves "security artists," often spend even more time guarding the exhibited works than the curators or conservators themselves. The security guards Bringley met were strikingly different from his colleagues at The New Yorker, who generally had similar backgrounds, having attended elite private schools. They came from a diverse range of backgrounds: one immigrant who fled to the United States after an assassination attempt; another who had worked for an insurance company for 20 years before rekindling a forgotten dream and becoming a security guard; another who dreamed of becoming a literary writer; another who commanded a destroyer in the Bay of Bengal. As the author exchanges greetings, requests, and encouragement with his colleagues, each with their own stories beneath their dark blue uniforms, he feels the great hole in his heart from losing his brother gradually filling, and the rhythm of life that had vanished is being restored.

In addition, the author's witty writing style unfolds the bustling yet lively scenes of the museum's closing days, interesting episodes with various types of visitors, and the cinematic history of art theft, all of which bring a smile to the reader's face.

“Life moves forward slowly, even as it stumbles and creaks.”
Let go of the deep sadness and helplessness
On the courage to get up and walk again

At some point, Bringley realizes he no longer desires a quiet and orderly world. Unlike his past, when he wanted to disconnect and escape from everything, he now realizes that he still has a life to live, and that he holds the key to its direction. The real world is not always as beautiful as a work of art, and at times, life treats us with ruthlessness, like a tyrant. Regarding this, the author says, "Life is about living without complaint, struggling, growing, and creating something new." For the first time since his brother's death, he begins to dream a new dream. Set in the unique space of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this captivating essay delicately depicts life, art, and the courage to move forward, and will resonate deeply with readers seeking deep reflection and comfort.