These Precious Days: Essays

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With her focus on love and marriage, and some sort of redemption however serious the subject matter, she is at odds in today’s climate of angsty millennial fiction. “I am a glass-half-full, can-do kind of gal. It’s just the salt in my brain,” she admits cheerfully. “So, people give me grief about being too hopeful or too cheerful or too interested in family – it doesn’t matter. I’m not writing all the novels. I’m not the novelist for the age. You want horror, you can get horror. You want dystopia, you can get dystopia. You want disaffected ennui and depression, you got that covered.”

I'm re-listening to these essays. (3rd time) -- I made a date with Erin -- last year -- to listen to this book during Thanksgiving -- and boy -- I had no idea just HOW MUCH re-visiting this book would be supportive -- Sooki, it turns out, is being treated for pancreatic cancer, and Patchett thinks of her time as precious now. They begin corresponding about paint and colour and artists and art books. They have become friends.

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one niche genre i have a soft spot for are nonfiction memoir essays that are semi self help books but not in an obvious way. in the way where it lets the readers read between the lines and figure out life lessons ( everything i know about love& maybe you should talk to someone are some faves of the genre). This afternoon she is expecting American novelist Helen Ellis, whom she will take out for an early dinner at 4.30pm, ahead of interviewing her at the bookshop this evening. Ellis will stay the night, “because everybody sleeps at my house,” she says. “It means you always have a clean house.” Few things irritate her more than writers who complain that writing is the hardest job in the world. “I always want to say, ‘Get a job!’” While you wouldn’t expect her to have a Hemingway-style routine, it’s a surprise that she cites Madonna as a role model. She recalls an interview in which the singer said she never does anything to hurt herself. “And that’s very true for me. I don’t make myself feel guilty. I go to sleep at pretty much the same time. I exercise every night. I make time for my friends. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke.” i like the way ann patchett writes and thinks, and i like the way she depicts her friends and family and life, so this book of autobiographical essays worked for me.

You know when people compliment an author by saying, "Oh, I would read their grocery list if they published it!" Ann Patchett might be that author for me. The Midnight Library: Enter the extraordinary Midnight Library, a realm where countless books unveil the lives Nora Seed could have lived. This gripping novel challenges her to unearth the essence of true fulfillment, igniting a profound exploration of regrets, choices, and the meaning of a life well lived. She writes when she can, and always without a contract. “I never owe people work.” The writers she knows who are the most protective of their time are the least productive, she says. “I get the job done. I don’t procrastinate. Creativity, inspiration, all of those words that meant so much when I was 20. Now, I go to work. I show up in the morning. I’m going to get it done.” She knows she can write. “I’m not worried about if I can do this. It’s more can I have an idea that seems worth my time and worth your time. I have to think this really matters.” Of course it helps if you have a personal connection to the topics she covers, and with 22 to choose from you likely will. For me, these were: no shopping/minimalism, having a husband who likes to fly teeny tiny (scary) planes, childlessness, book cover love, and (sigh) cancer.I was starting to understand that what she needed might have been color rather than conversation, breath rather than words.” I am counting down to the release of These Precious Days. I adore everything she writes but especially her essays, which are always profound and clever, and funny and wise An irresistible collection of essays and memoir from the internationally bestselling, Women's Prize-winning author of The Dutch House

Patchett describes These Precious Days as a sequel to her 2013 essay collection This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. This mood abruptly changes, however, three-quarters of the way through, with the title essay. As Patchett notes of the writings she has assembled here: “Again and again, I was asking what mattered most in this precarious and precious life.” The title essay snaps that precariousness sharply into focus. I believe Patchett fans will love this as I did, getting to know some about her writing and her life. I recommend it to those who haven’t read her books, too. You will want to read every one of them. These Precious Days, Anne Patchett's memoir in essays, examines the importance of crucial relationships between family and friends, aging and death, and the writing life. Patchett, 58, the author of eight novels, four nonfiction books, and two children's books, opens the door to the world of her youth and invites us into her adult home and Parnassos, the indie bookstore she owns in Tennessee.Although motherhood is one of the joys in the novel, Patchett’s childlessness had no bearing on the writing. “This is what I do. I make these things up,” she says sternly. “I think about it really hard. I’m not an actress. I’m not a farmer. I’m not a mother.” She covers a variety of themes such as her three fathers, decluttering, writing, her faith, friendship, her dogs, and her decision to remain childless to mention just a few. A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer's eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be. for as many times as the horrible thing happens, a thousand times in every day the horrible thing passes us by.”

In Patchett’s hands, the ordinary turns to gold. Besides talking about their friendship, she talks a little about writing. She describes how she came up with the idea for her latest novel, Dutch House (a book I liked), and she talks about how she put it together. I loved this peek into how her mind works. Publishers Weekly gave These Precious Days a starred review, calling it “eloquent” and saying Patchett writes “poignantly—and often with wry humor”. [1] In The New York Times, Alex Witchel called the collection “excellent”, saying “Patchett’s heart, smarts and 40 years of craft create an economy that delivers her perfectly understated stories emotionally whole.” [4] In The Washington Post, Michele Filgate praised Patchett’s “welcoming and comforting” prose. [2]In fact, it’s all said best by Ann Patchett herself. About how important books are, and how we need to share our love of the extra special ones. But the flames are not just those of a global pandemic. Lara’s eldest daughter Emily, who plans to make her life on the farm, decides she is not going to have children because of the climate emergency. It is here that even Patchett’s optimism falters. “I can’t imagine going through this with young children. You’re not worrying just for yourself and your own life and a love for trees and birds and all that. You’re worrying about it for the people you love the most.” Overall , this is an extremely readable collection about family, friends, love and what really matters. Her passion for all things bookish shines through and if I’m ever in Nashville her bookshop Parnassus is a must visit. What I’ll take away from this is a feeling of warmth that emanates from the author and how she is prepared to stand up for what she thinks is right. Highly recommended. Do you think it was these relationships she had with her loved ones, (both biological and chosen) that provided a supportive network eventually underpinning her positive outlook on life?