--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The year after I graduated college I had…" description: "\"The year after I graduated college I had a job in a library. When people underlined passages in the library books, or made notes in the margins, the bo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/lev-grossman-747_after_the-year-after-i-graduated-college-i-had_995348.jpg" --- # The year after I graduated college I had a job in a… ![“The year after I graduated college I had a job in a library. When people underlined passages in the library books, or made notes in the margins, the books were sent to me. I erased the lines and the notes. Yes, that was my job.” quote by Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/lev-grossman-747_after_the-year-after-i-graduated-college-i-had_995348.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/lev-grossman-747_after_the-year-after-i-graduated-college-i-had_995348.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/lev-grossman-747_after_the-year-after-i-graduated-college-i-had_995348.jpg) > “The year after I graduated college I had a job in a library. When people underlined passages in the library books, or made notes in the margins, the books were sent to me. I erased the lines and the notes. Yes, that was my job.” [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He describes a job erasing marginalia, symbolizing control over others' interpretations. **In simple terms:** Erasing others' notes reflects desire to control narratives. Key Takeaway Consider how editing influences meaning. Themes literature control interpretation work Mood reflective critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - library work - editing - creative process - literary criticism Key Concepts authorial intent censorship Questions to Reflect On - What is lost when we remove others' annotations? - Is controlling narrative ever justified? A Different Perspective Erasing may suppress valuable perspectives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [College](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/college/) [Job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [“I have underlined words and sentences in one of the Bibles that has always been my study Bible, but when I look at those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-schulz/i-have-underlined-words-and-sentences-in-one-of-the-bibles-that-has/) [Charles M. Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-schulz/) > [“It is a truth universally acknowledged that people write the darnedest things in the margins of their books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-bray-smith/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-people-write-the/) [Tara Bray Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-bray-smith/) > [When I get to a point in my book writing when I don't know what I'm going to do next, I'll come back look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-dicamillo/when-i-get-to-a-point-in-my-book-writing-when-i-don-t-know-what-i-m/) [Kate DiCamillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-dicamillo/) > [I asked him what, if anything, got him down about teaching. He said he didn't think that anything about it got him exactly down,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-asked-him-what-if-anything-got-him-down-about-teaching-he-said-he/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I picked up my college copy of 'The Great Gatsby' in an attempt to recover from the movie and was interested to find out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-collins/i-picked-up-my-college-copy-of-the-great-gatsby-in-an-attempt-to/) [Gail Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-collins/) > [In true prose everything must be underlined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/in-true-prose-everything-must-be-underlined/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [“Daniel pointed to a dense paragraph of text. Luce hadn't realized until then that the book was written in Latin. 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