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Susan Orlean's masterly long-form investigative nonfiction has previously explored horticulture (The Orchid Thief) and dog breeding (Rin Tin Tin). Here she begins with the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL). She had recently moved from New York to Los Angeles and paid a visit to the downtown Central Library. She learned there had been a catastrophic fire in 1987. (It was the same day as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which got national coverage.) The library fire reached 2,000°. Steel shelves melted, thousands of books turned to a...Log In or Sign Up to Read More