The Hungry Library was constructed by the witch-prince Esquan d'Avanti, who as he grew older began to see his youthful good looks and legendary memory start to fade. In a paroxysm of existential terror he bound seven spirits of darkest law to his collection of arcane tomes and bid them to store his thoughts and words forever after.

By the turning of the next moon his chambers had caught fire and the entire tower was gutted, leaving no trace of prince d'Avanti, but his books began to turn up in odd places, leading to speculation that the destruction was less than accidental in nature.

Anyone who reads one of the books from the Hungry Library quickly becomes engrossed in the autobiographies they record (and they are all autobiographies), spending longer and longer thumbing through the tome. Over time they begin to forget things, at first small details and old memories, but soon more important things, and yet they are unable to stop reading.

As they approach the end of the book, they will have almost forgotten their own names, their families and jobs, everything they knew, knowing only the contents of the book, which invariably culminate in the author picking up an odd book in a strange place. As the last word is read, the book falls to the ground, held by no hand, and another book is added to d'Avanti's masterless collection on a shelf somewhere...

For all the hazards associated with reading books from the Hungry Library, they are nonetheless hotly sought after by collectors for various purposes, and the largest collection is in an ancient temple embedded deep in the heart of a great metropolis, guarded by monks with strange tattoos.