Aug10

meeting ann.

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last night i had the great pleasure of going to my favorite theater

where one of my favorite authors, ann patchett

was appearing

while on a book tour for her latest book, “tom lake’

which happens to take place in northern michigan

a place dear to my heart.

ann is a prolific novel writer

a wordsmith of the highest order

who has a way with the human story

always using her literary magic to somehow weave her characters together

in unexpected and wonderful ways.

she was funny, smart, down to earth, and very relatable

talking about her books, writing, book banning, life,

offering support for other authors and books she knows and loves,

because she knows it can make all the difference for them,

 the joys and pains of book tours

and being an independent bookstore owner

(her other avocation).

 when i finally had the chance to meet her

i handed her my very used copy of ‘bel canto’

my favorite book of hers

she opened the cover, signed her name, and wrote:

‘thank you for bringing a well-loved book.’

—

“i have been accused of being a pollyanna,

but I think there are plenty of people dealing with the darker side of human nature,

and if I am going to write about people who are kind and generous and loving and thoughtful, so what?”

-ann patchett

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80 responses »

  2. I love Ann’s attitude to writing; it is exciting to meet an author: the most memorable I’ve met was Salman Rushdie shortly after he had ‘Midnight’s Children’ published; I wrote a post on him way back: will see if I can find it :)

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  25. I love the quote. People often talk about entertainment as a form of escape. Writers should write about what they want to write about, not what some marketing person tells them to write.

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  26. OK, beth, i’m back with you …. and ann patchett. my first book by her was also Bel Canto. i was so convinced by this read, many, many years ago, that i started buying every book she ever wrote. and then, she also had a bookshop in co-ownership. AND a dog, being there every day. my happiness was endless.
    her last one i could get my hands on was These Precious Days, and sadly i couldn’t get fully immersed. i guess that one of the reasons is my increasingly terrible eyesight. i used to read at least an hour in bed before sleeping. even with a stronger light i now suffer so badly from sore eyes that i can maybe read for 10-15′ max. and as this collection just cannot hold my joined interest-and failing sight, i put it, very reluctantly, back on the pile on my nightstand. i bought, in a last attempt, to hold real books in my hands, some 15 modern fiction ones but the reading gets really slow. i’m however sure that before i can’t see anything anymore, i’m gonna finish the precious days. my days are precious too, and i just so love her human side in everything she writes.
    i also love that she gave your bel canto copy a really personal signing. but that’s what she is. a highly talented writer and a beautiful human being.

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    • I had much the same path, with her books and it took me a while with precious days, but it gets much better as you go, and the end – wow. I definitely don’t have the same reading stamina that I once had but I’m never in a rush and just finish when I finish. I also listen to audiobooks when driving and she said that Meryl Streep made the audio version of tom lake her new book, so that might be an option for you. thanks for checking in

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