Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-226).

Only a few select people enjoy unrestricted access to every nook and cranny of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and among them are the guards who keep a watchful eye on the two-million-square-foot treasure house. For Bringley, the Museum was a temporary refuge that became his home away from home for a decade. Here he explores his tribe: the artworks and their creators and the subculture of museum guards. Though Bringley gradually returned to the larger world, here he explores the Museum's hidden wonders--and the people who make it tick--,adapted from jacket.