Those who remember Harry Omer Peak, remember him for his blondness. Peak moved to Los Angeles after briefly serving in the army to become an actor. He told relatives that he acquired roles in television shows and movies, but, during her research, Orlean discovered that Peak appeared on television only once—on the local news, after he was arrested in 1987 for setting the Los Angeles Central Library on fire. The Central Library is located in downtown Los Angeles and first opened in 1926. Its design was the brainchild of architect Bertram Goodhue. The library takes up an entire city block and stands eight stories high. When it was first built, it was the tallest building in downtown Los Angeles.

The library, like most, opens at 10 o’clock in the morning, but it bustles with activity hours before. Visitors mill around outside waiting for it to open. The shipping department starts work at daybreak, “packing tens of thousands of books into plastic bins” (4). Librarians and clerks adjust books on the shelves and process new books.

The author, Orlean, recalls how she grew up several blocks from the Bertram Woods branch of the Shaker Heights Public Library in Cleveland.