This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

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Overview

The New York Times bestselling author of State of Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto creates a resonant portrait of a life in this collection of writings on love, friendship, work, and art.

"The tricky thing about being a writer, or about being any kind of artist, is that in addition to making art you also have to make a living." Bringing her narrative gifts to bear on her own life, Ann Patchett uses insight and compassion to turn very personal experiences into stories that will resonate with every listener. These essays...

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Overview

The New York Times bestselling author of State of Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto creates a resonant portrait of a life in this collection of writings on love, friendship, work, and art.

"The tricky thing about being a writer, or about being any kind of artist, is that in addition to making art you also have to make a living." Bringing her narrative gifts to bear on her own life, Ann Patchett uses insight and compassion to turn very personal experiences into stories that will resonate with every listener. These essays twine to create both a portrait of life and a philosophy of life. Obstacles that at first appear insurmountable—scaling a six-foot wall in order to join the Los Angeles Police Department, opening an independent bookstore, and sitting down to write a novel—are eventually mastered with quiet tenacity and a sheer force of will. An irresistible blend of literature and memoir, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a unique examination of the heart, mind, and soul of one of our most revered and gifted writers.

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

Notwithstanding Tolstoy ("All happy families resemble one another"), stories of domestic bliss retain a unique interest. As gifted novelist Ann Patchett (State of Wonder; Bell Canto) tells the story here, her happy marriage had a long, often painful prologue: The past four generations of her family had ended in marital breakups and she herself suffered one failed marriage and one unfortunate engagement, before she found the love of her life and future husband Carl. Patchett enthusiasts will be pleased that she also roams into other topics, including writing, reading, running a bookstore, and even her cherished pet canines. Now in trade paperback and NOOK Book.

Shelf Awareness
“Patchett’s mastery of nonfiction [is] every bit the equal of her skill as a novelist.”
Real Simple
“All the essays were a joy to read...No matter your interest, you’ll find words in this book that speak to you.”
USA Today
“Reading Patchett is like spending time with a deeply perceptive longtime pal, or a new friend that one instantly connects with.”
New York Times Book Review
“I had been so engaged by Ann Patchett’s multifaceted story, so lured in by her confiding voice, that I forgot I was on the job. […] As the best personal essays often do, Patchett’s is a two-way mirror, reflecting both the author and her readers.”
O: the Oprah Magazine
“In this heartfelt collection of autobiographical essays, the novelist opens up about love, friendship, and family, exhibiting the compassionate voice that is a hallmark of her fiction.”
New York Times
“The best advertisement for Ann Patchett’s new collection of nonfiction is anything else Ms. Patchett has written...Ms. Patchett’s style is not overly confessional, but it is beguiling in ways that make her sound like someone you’d want to know.”
The New Yorker
“[A] sparkling collection.”
Miami Herald
“Happy marriage, compelling writing and all worthy endeavor requires hard work. That’s Patchett’s strength. And she does a fine job.”
Dallas Morning News
“Patchett … is one of our best contemporary novelists. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage reminds us that she is an exceptional writer of nonfiction, too. Her prose is a pleasure to read, regardless of genre.”
Christian Science Monitor
“Novelist Ann Patchett’s excellent essay collection ranges from dogs to writing to white-knuckled air travel.”
Aspen Daily News
“While being an artistic crafter of words, Patchett also has a storyteller’s ability to sketch a moment so vividly you can’t fail to see how her own writing life was developed.”
the Oprah Magazine O
“In this heartfelt collection of autobiographical essays, the novelist opens up about love, friendship, and family, exhibiting the compassionate voice that is a hallmark of her fiction.”
Newsday
“It is a feat that Ann Patchett remains so lovable as a narrator, and so engaging as a storyteller, when writing about her excellent career, personal life, dog, and husband.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“Patchett’s is a no-nonsense voice: clear, sane, companionable… [T]he funny, frank and nervy ‘The Getaway Car’ (possibly worth the book’s price) plunges readers, roller-coaster style, into the story of Patchett’s writing life—essentially, this collection’s real subject.”
NPR's Fresh Air
“[I]n this terrific, wide-ranging collection, Patchett demonstrates how a pro does it.”
Esquire.com
“All of the essays, which have been collected from her magazine work over two decades, are excellent. Patchett writes enviable prose—fluid, simple, direct, clear, and fearless…”
Huffington Post
“Ann Patchett most definitely has something to say, in her fully realized and beautiful voice.”
Minneapolis Star Tribune
“[A]ll of the periodical pieces collected are finely polished, worthy of their packaging between two hard covers.”
Columbus Dispatch
“Writing of loss and of the complications of love, Patchett lets down her guard … and opens both her sense of humor and her heart.”
Entertainment Weekly
“Wit-filled and elegantly executed”
The New York Times - Janet Maslin
Ms. Patchett's style is not overly confessional, but it is beguiling in ways that make her sound like someone you'd want to know. Her new book, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, reinforces the impression of an uncommonly kind person who is not above self-interest but loves books, her grandmother, the toughest nun who taught her in grade school, her husband and her darling dog…This book is about so much more than love, marriage or divorce…
The New York Times Book Review - Wendy Lesser
I hope it will not sound disrespectful if I say that I read this book for fun. Yes, I was assigned to review it, and, yes, I assembled all my usual reviewer's equipment (note cards, pen, critical faculties) before sitting down to read. But when I got to the end of the book, I realized I hadn't taken a single note. I had been so engaged by Ann Patchett's multifaceted story, so lured in by her confiding voice, that I forgot I was on the job.
Publishers Weekly
A collection of 22 essays (including a couple of commencement addresses) previously published by accomplished novelist and memoirist Patchett (State of Wonder; What Now?; etc.) offer generous glimpses of her rural, divorced Catholic Tennessee background and winding but determined route to becoming a writer (“The Getaway Car”). Writing nonfiction, first for Seventeen and later a host of magazines as her network of editors expanded, was her bread and butter in the early days, and she has an authoritative, straightforward voice in exploring some of the milestones of her life, such as her deep love for her dog, Rose (not to be confused with the desire for a baby), learning from scratch how to love opera in order to write her bestseller Bel Canto, preparing with her ex-cop father’s guidance for the grueling L.A. Police Academy exams (“The Wall”), her startling resolve to start up a Nashville bookstore when no other bookstore was left in her hometown, and her painful but merciful segue from divorce to remarriage. The public addresses she made after the publication of Truth & Beauty, a memoir about her friendship with the deeply tortured writer Lucy Grealy, form the most telling and moving selections, especially her compelling speech (“The Right to Read”) given to the Clemson University student body in defense of academic and artistic freedom. Early on, her writing teacher Russell Banks had warned Patchett of being too “polished” and “just getting by,” urging her to take risks, and certainly many of these selections reveal a candid, evolved self-reflection. (Nov.)
Library Journal
10/15/2013
This compilation of 22 essays by novelist Patchett (winner of the Orange Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award; Taft; State of Wonder), many of which previously appeared in magazines or newspapers, together comprise an eclectic group covering a wide range of events on the topic of commitment, from training to get into the Los Angeles Police Department academy to Patchett's career as an author. In the title piece, she recounts the 11 premarriage years she spent with now husband Karl and the lessons they taught her about marriage. In sharing her struggles as a writer and creating the life she wanted for herself, Patchett offers words that gently advise without imposing. Her experiences, large and small, create a connection with the reader in prose that is thoughtful, warm, and encouraging. Each of the essays is its own delight and resonates with warmth and humor from her family and friends, making a short investment of time wonderfully rewarding. If read straight through, the book presents a lovely and lyrical look at a life well lived. VERDICT Patchett provides insight and entertainment for all kinds of readers, and this title will be an asset to any library.—Catherine Gilmore, MLS, Portland, OR
Kirkus Reviews
2013-10-01
A well-organized collection of a beloved, award-winning writer's nonfiction essays about her personal and literary lives. Most readers know Patchett (State of Wonder, 2011, etc.) for her richly imaginative fiction. But before she found success as a novelist, she supported herself by writing nonfiction for a diverse variety of magazines, including Seventeen, Mercedes Benz Magazine and Bridal Guide. In this book, Patchett gathers 22 essays published between 1997 and 2012. What she ultimately produces is a text that is part meditation on the writing life and part literary memoir. From an early age, the Los Angeles native knew she wanted to be a writer, but she would be an adult before she realized that, in addition to making art, storytellers "also [had] to make a living." After stints as a cook, waitress and teacher, she discovered that writing nonfiction could pay her bills. It would only be much later that she understood how writing nonfiction had transformed her into "a workhorse," abolished her ego and impacted the future readers of her novels in ways she never expected. Patchett also reflects on her literary successes, as well as on the controversy surrounding Truth & Beauty (2004), which explores the emotionally intense relationship she had with fellow Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate Lucy Grealy. The personal essays reflect a wide range of experiences. In one, she reflects on the rocky childhood that led her away from LA and on to Nashville. In another, she reflects on her failed first marriage and second successful one. Patchett also shares stories of how she learned to appreciate opera, qualified for the LA police academy and unexpectedly became part owner of an independent bookstore. Readable and candid, Patchett's collection is a joyful celebration of life, love and the written word. Wise, humane and always insightful.
The Barnes & Noble Review
Ann Patchett's This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage takes the cake for the most inviting title of the season. This collection of mostly personal essays addresses a range of subjects sure to spark discussions, including the generational fallout of divorce, which fed into Patchett's early decision not to have children; the parallels she flags between her fiercely protective love for her dog and her grandmother at the end of their long lives; and her inadvertent emergence as a spokesperson for independent bookstores.

About that title essay, it is actually a story of how a family legacy of unhappy marriages and divorce -- from her great-grandparents' down to her own -- left Patchett so wary of the institution that she fended off proposals from her second husband for eleven years. She finally relented when she thought he might die of what turned out to be a misdiagnosed heart ailment. She writes that her marriage to Karl VanDevender, a Nashville doctor sixteen years her senior, is "the great joy and astonishment of my life." Among its surprises: "It was like finding another wing in a house you had happily lived in for years. It was simply a bigger love than I had imagined."

In her graceful, forthright introduction, Patchett tells how she supported herself with freelance journalism for a variety of publications during the early years of her career, because her short stories and novels "were no more capable of supporting me than my dog was." Working her way up from Seventeen and Bridal Guide to Vogue, The New York Times, and The Atlantic Monthly, she has continued to write nonfiction articles even after the success of Bel Canto and State of Wonder, because she enjoys the constraints, especially in contrast with the freedom of fiction. To explain, she enlists a metaphor that may well be a byproduct of her research for Bel Canto: "Like a soprano's boned corset, the built-in restrictions provided both support and something to push against."

Patchett acknowledges that her book "bears the stamp of a writer who got her start in women's magazines: it is full of example and advice." It also bears the stamp of someone writing from the vantage point of success. With several bestsellers under her belt -- not to mention the happy relationship of the title -- Patchett obviously feels comfortable enough to share some of her mistakes (most notably her brief, disastrous first marriage); glimpses of the writing life (including book tours and unusual research junkets); and tips on what's worked for her (a trusted reader, and denying the very possibility of writer's block). Fortunately, even "The Getaway Car," a long "Practical Memoir about Writing and Life," which offers few unique insights, is sufficiently down-to-earth to avoid egregious smugness. (Example: "No one should go into debt to study creative writing. It's simply not worth it.")

Several essays relate to Truth & Beauty, her searing memoir about her intense seventeen-year friendship with the late writer Lucy Grealy -- whose own powerful memoir, Autobiography of a Face, chronicled her grueling battle with a childhood cancer that obliterated her jaw. They met in their first year at Sarah Lawrence College and went on to study writing at the University of Iowa together. In her 2005 Convocation Address for The Miami University of Ohio, Patchett considers the differences between fact and fiction and notes, "Both Autobiography of a Face and Truth & Beauty are books about how much compassion is needed to get through a life. They are also books about the value of friendship."

The following year, Patchett sounded a similar note in her Convocation Address to first-year students at Clemson University in South Carolina. But this time, she also had to defend Truth & Beauty against surprisingly virulent attacks from conservatives; they complained that it was a poor choice of required reading for incoming students, because they found both Grealy's life and her close friendship with Patchett unwholesome. Somewhat redundantly, this volume includes a recap of the brouhaha and a summary of Patchett's response, followed by her actual speech. She eloquently pushes back, stressing the importance of friendship and urging students to "go to the primary source to make your decisions?it is never enough to rely on other people's ideas."

The best essays are weighted toward the back of the book and showcase the centrality of compassion in Patchett's life. She is clearly a born nurturer, always taking care of someone -- whether Lucy, her grandmother, her beloved dog, or the now-aged nun who determinedly taught her to read in third grade. In "The Mercies," published in Granta in 2011, she writes movingly about the pleasure of lavishing delicacies from Whole Foods on Sister Nena, who at seventy-eight still holds fast to her vows of poverty, obedience, and service.

Patchett's devotion to her grandmother is similarly uplifting. As the old woman descended into dementia, instead of lamenting the loss of the person she'd grown up loving, "I resolved to love the woman I had."

The lessons gleaned from her divorce are equally clear-eyed. When she was indecisive about leaving her miserable, ill-advised first marriage, a friend asked: "Does your husband make you a better person?? It's not more complicated than that?. That's all there is: Does he make you better and do you make him better?" How's that for a bar for assessing relationships? Surely grist for the book group mill there.

An intriguing aspect of this volume, which was written piecemeal, for various publications, is watching how Patchett's telling of some stories change over time. After several cursory accounts of her divorce in earlier essays, in "This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage," written for Audible Originals in 2011, Patchett reveals an affair begun at Yaddo that enabled her to leave her first husband. Her confession opens the way for this lovely leap: "More than twenty years later I think: the house was on fire and I jumped out a window instead of going through the front door. How I left is not important to me now. I got out."

Similarly, in "Dog Without End," the 2012 tribute she wrote for Vogue, Patchett corrects an earlier "glossed-over version" of how she came by her dog, Rose. She confesses that she essentially snatched the foundling pup from a kid's arms. Why is she coming clean, we wonder? Guilt? Perhaps. But look how honesty heightens the impact of this zinger: "Sometimes love does not have the most honorable beginnings, and the endings, the endings will break you in half. It's everything in between we live for."

As for what to read alongside This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, both Truth & Beauty and Lucy Grealy's Autobiography of a Face expand on some of the themes in this collection. Great fiction tends to sidestep wedded bliss -- though the exception of Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety springs to mind. Courtship romances from Jane Austen onward involve working through various obstacles towards happy unions, but usually bring down the curtain before the first glow subsides. In nonfiction, happy marriages tend to be concentrated in spousal eulogies such as John Bayley's Elegy for Iris, Calvin Trillin's About Alice, and Julian Barnes's Levels of Life. All of which leads us to wonder, do happy marriages lack the requisite drama for great literature?

Heller McAlpin is a New York–based critic who reviews books for NPR.org, The Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor, and other publications.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780062236685
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 10/7/2014
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 320
  • Sales rank: 59508
  • Product dimensions: 5.30 (w) x 7.90 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett is the author of six novels and three works of nonfiction. She is the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award, England's Orange Prize, and the Book Sense Book of the Year, and was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She is the co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives with her husband, Karl, and their dog, Sparky.

Ann Patchett is the author of six novels and three works of nonfiction. She is the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award, England's Orange Prize, and the Book Sense Book of the Year, and was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She is the co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives with her husband, Karl, and their dog, Sparky.

Biography

Ann Patchett was born in Los Angeles but raised in Nashville, Tennessee. While at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, she studied with such notable authors as Russell Banks and Grace Paley before getting her first short works published. She labored long and hard in the trenches of Seventeen magazine (where her talents went largely unrecognized), before striking gold with her ambitious first novel, The Patron Saint of Liars, which was named a New York Times Notable Book of 1992 and subsequently made into a major motion picture.

Since her auspicious debut, Patchett has crafted a handful of elegant novels, garnering several accolades and awards along the way. But her real breakthrough occurred with 2001's Bel Canto, a taut, psychological thriller set in the claustrophobic confines of an embassy under siege in South America. Winning both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize, Bel Canto catapulted Patchett into the ranks of bestselling authors.

As if to prove her versatility, Patchett departed from fiction for 2004's Truth & Beauty, the heartbreaking account of her longstanding, difficult friendship with the late Lucy Grealy, a gifted writer whose disfigurement from cancer precipitated a tragic descent into addiction and death. This memoir won several literary awards and appeared on many end-of-year best books lists.

Success breeds success; and with each book, Patchett's reputation grows. Perhaps the secret to her popularity has been captured best by Patchett's friend, Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler. "She is a genius of the human condition," he says. "I can't think of many other writers, ever, who get anywhere near her ability to comprehend the vastness and diversity of humanity, and to articulate our deepest heart."

Good To Know

In 1997, The Patron Saint of Liars was adapted into a TV movie, and Patchett also helped to write the screenplay for Taft, which was optioned by actor Morgan Freeman for a feature film.

Patchett knew absolutely nothing about opera before writing Bel Canto; she began her research with Fred Plotkin's book Opera 101.

In our interview, Patchett shared some fascinating facts about herself:

"I've never had a television."

"I brush my dog's teeth every morning."

"I got a pig for my ninth birthday and haven't eaten red meat since."

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    1. Hometown:
      Nashville, Tennessee
    1. Date of Birth:
      Mon Dec 02 00:00:00 EST 1963
    2. Place of Birth:
      Los Angeles, California
    1. Education:
      B.A., Sarah Lawrence College, 1985; M.F.A., University of Iowa, 1987
    2. Website:

Customer Reviews

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  • Posted Tue Nov 05 00:00:00 EST 2013

    I Also Recommend:

    This is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a sheer delight. It rea

    This is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a sheer delight. It really gets in deep to the notion of writing nonfiction – what that type of art really is and how utterly unique it is. The book balances between essays about life and philosophy about life. It is really an incredible balancing act. Five stars.

    8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Mon Dec 30 00:00:00 EST 2013

    If you love Ann Patchett¿s novels, prepare to fall in love with

    If you love Ann Patchett’s novels, prepare to fall in love with the author herself when you read This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. I was so enchanted while reading this book that I brought it along to read aloud to my husband as we drove the 2,000 miles from Northern Lake Superior to our winter home in Florida. He laughed so long and hard that I wondered if I should do the driving to maintain control of the wheel. This is the Story of a Happy Marriage is so much more than an enchanting collection of personal essays. It is a surprisingly intimate view of Patchett: the young girl growing up in a miss-matched family, the young writer struggling towards a career, the star-crossed lover, the cherished friend. In her essay “The Get-Away-Car,” Patchett shares her best and wisest advice on how to become a writer. Bringing her self-effacing humor and profound insight to every page, Patchett writes about her dog, her grandmother, the nun she feared as a child and learned to love as an adult, the hilarious saga of a road-trip in a Winnebago through Montana. Written and published over a period of years and compiled in this book, these essays blend the past with the present in an almost seamless story-telling event.

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Thu Nov 21 00:00:00 EST 2013

    more from this reviewer

    Great book for Patchett Fans  Note: I received This is the Stor

    Great book for Patchett Fans 

    Note: I received This is the Story of a Happy Marriage from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. 




    I've been an Ann Patchett fan for years. I loved State of Wonder and adored The Patron Saint of Liars, so when I was given the opportunity to read about Ann Patchett by Ann Patchett, I jumped. And boy, am I glad I did! Confession: I had no idea she started out writing magazine articles. I consider myself to be pretty up-to-snuff when it comes to the writing histories of authors I love, but for some reason I never did much Patchett research. I think this is probably a good thing because it lent an air of mystery to her work.




    My favorite essay from the book was The Getaway Car. In it, she discusses how she became a writer and gives advice (like don't get an MFA because it's a waste of money) and her self-deprecating process of writing a book. In it, she details the circumstances around writing The Patron Saint of Liars, which is my favorite book by her, and I loved reading the backstory. I think I might actually go back and reread it now that I have some insight into her writing processes.




    Voracious readers will love this book. As a writer who is writing about writing (follow all that?), Patchett's love for all things literary is palpable. I, for one, relished in her descriptions of reading, wanting to be a writer as a child, putting pen to paper, and actually put down the book to write a short, personal essay just because she inspired me.
    But enough talking about the book. Run to the library and get your copy NOW!   Allison @ The Book Wheel

    3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2014

    Talent Sinistral

    This is a wonderful book for anyone who loves excitement, adventure, and romance. The character development is beautifully done through expert use of adjectives and humor. Kier and Jon Marc are people you would love to have in your circle of friends. You are transported to a different world similar enough to earth to be believable but different enough to challenge you to imagine how it might be to live there. I highly recommend it!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Fri Feb 14 00:00:00 EST 2014

    more from this reviewer

    Great Life Lessons!

    This was my first book by Ann Patchett-a very insightful look into the ups and downs of Patchett’s life, her writings, marriage, family, dog, and the people who came in and out of her life. A collection of short essays which were published in the NY Times, WSJ, Washington Post and others. (how a writer supports herself while trying to earn income and have time for writing and the process). She tells her story about her trials, experiences, successes, failures and her search for love and happiness in personal and business.

    All of the essays are tied together with a background of her life and history of the articles she wrote. This book inspires all of us whether writing short stories, blogging or novels. Makes readers appreciate all our favorite author’s efforts and what it takes ---Thanks for sharing your life lessons! I look forward to reading more from this author.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Sat Jan 04 00:00:00 EST 2014

    This is a very enjoyable collection of essays, mostly about writ

    This is a very enjoyable collection of essays, mostly about writing and the life of a writer. The title essay was probably the best one, but it's really the only one about her marriage. The rest could be considered a metaphorical marriage, in the sense that writing is a life-long passion for her and her longest-term commitment, but it was not what I expected from reading the jacket and some of the other reviews. Still, she's a good writer and I'm very glad I found this. I've read two of her novels but nothing of her nonfiction writing before. I found her thoughts on what education and true creative thinking are most inspirational.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Thu Nov 14 00:00:00 EST 2013

    Glitches again!

    Do something about these constant glitches, BN! Your customer service sucks!

    2 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Thu Dec 12 00:00:00 EST 2013

    Excellent

    I enjoyed getting to know Ann Patchett through her essays. I liked the variety and she is an excellent writer.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Fri May 23 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    Super auto-biographical reaxd that requires little of the reader.

    Whether you are a fan of Ann Patchett or not, you will enjoy this series of memory stories. I especially liked the title story and the one about Rose, the dog. Written in an acessible, conversational style.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Thu Jan 30 00:00:00 EST 2014

    Essays meh

    Excellent writing, interesting topics........ just not my kind of thing

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    Posted Fri Jan 24 00:00:00 EST 2014

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    Posted Fri May 30 00:00:00 EDT 2014

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    Posted Fri Jan 10 00:00:00 EST 2014

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    Posted Tue Mar 18 00:00:00 EDT 2014

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