Yes, you read that headline correctly.

Munch has always fancied himself a literary type, bursting with wordsmith machismo a la Hemingway, Hunter S. and Bukowski. A chap who (between tanning appointments and chemical peels) belts scotch, smokes unfiltered cigarettes and plays the trifecta at the track before quoting the Bard to a dame over a three-martini dinner at a chop house.

So, naturally Munch would hang out at The Library. Especially one that pours the hooch.

Obviously, this branch isn't endowed by Carnegie, but rather is the latest entrant to the bustling East Carson corridor. The Library is an intelligently funky place with an eclectic menu of cheekily titled entrees, salads, sandwiches and appetizers named after the literati.

To wit: the Hunter S. Thompson -- a pasta dish of fusilli, 'shrooms (heh, heh), greens and gouda cream sauce ($15); the Alice in Wonderland sandwich -- grilled portobello (again with the psychedelia references!), red peppers and boursin cheese ($7); 20,000 Leagues -- cornmeal-dusted calamari with tomato cilantro sauce ($9); and the Tyler Durden -- a "black & blue" ribeye with gorgonzola and rosemary redskin smashed potatoes ($19). Needless to say, YOU DO NOT TALK about that last dish.

Munch and Lady Friend of Munch started off with the Billy Goat's Gruff -- a grilled poblano pepper, filled with melted goat cheese and served over a chipotle cream sauce ($7). Delicious, but really heavy.

LFOM enjoyed the Fisherman and His Wife, a cut of pretzel crusted salmon and fingerling potatoes served over a mustard cream sauce ($16). She said the fish wasn't extraordinary, but the sauce was.

Munch had no complaints about The Ugly Duckling, and promptly inhaled the medallions of duck breast glazed with a Thai chili sauce, served over stir-fried rice ($20), stopping only to gargle down a few pints of East End Big Hop ($5).

Each table is lit with one of those old-fashioned green-shaded desk lamps found in libraries, and the menus are cleverly pasted into the front jackets of collegiate textbooks.

This touch could inadvertently serve as a harbinger for a pair out on a date: a bad one and you'll stoop so low as to thumb through "Human Resources Management Vol. 7," so as to ignore the droning across from you. However, if things go well, a couple might brush up on, uh, each other, with the slightly more amorous "Human Anatomy & Physiology" text over dessert. Speaking of which, the desserts, we were told, are provided by Christen Biddinger, who is the assistant pastry chef at Casbah in Shaydside.

Service was good, and the staff, the "Librarians," were fun and friendly -- no schoolmarms here. The Library aspires to be what the Brits call a gastropub, though at times it can't decide if it wants to be a bar or an upscale restaurant, a problem that plagued its predecessor, The Bridge. It needn't look further than nearby neighbors Ibiza or Dish for a lesson on how to pull it off.

A suggestion to the Librarians: find some cooler background music to pipe in or change the tunes on the juke. It's 2007. Exposing diners to Bush's "Machinehead" must violate some codes of the Geneva Convention. Likewise with the Eagles' "Peaceful, Easy Feeling." Really. If that isn't torture, Munch doesn't know what is.

Regardless, The Library's appearance on East Carson Street is creative and welcome, and is a perfect argument against the absurd zoning ordinance prohibiting new establishments with liquor licences within 50 yards of one another. In City Council's zeal to block new frat bars, they're going to shut out some quality newcomers too. Big mistake.

And The Library's rooftop patio -- one of only two on the South Side -- will be a hit if it ever warms up. Along with expansive outdoor seating at the neighboring Double Wide Grill, the 2300 block of the Carson strand will be the place for funky alfresco dining this summer.

The Library is at 2304 E. Carson St., South Side Flats. Call 412-381-0517 or go to thelibrary-pgh.com for more information.