The international bestselling writer Ann Patchett has been described as 'one of the foremost chroniclers of the burdens of emotional inventory and its central place in American lives' and 'a master of her art' (Observer). In her new collection, with her trademark blend of wryness, intelligence and wisdom, she explores family, friendship, marriage, failure, success - and how all these forces have shaped her as a writer.
Ranging from the personal - her portrait in triptych of the three men she called her fathers, to unexpectedly falling into a friendship with Tom Hanks, to how to answer when someone asks why you don't have children - to the sublime - exploring the Harvard Museum of Natural History before its doors open, or the perfection to be found on a single page of Eudora Welty - each essay shows Patchett's strikingly original perspective, and the magical sleight of hand with which she transforms the particular into the universal.
Illuminating, penetrating, funny and generous, These Precious Days is joyful time spent in the company of one of our greatest living authors.
Review
PRAISE FOR ANN PATCHETT: Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature - Guardian
One of my top favourite contemporary writers. I don't think that there's a book of hers that I haven't put down at the end and been haunted by for weeks after -- Gillian Anderson
Few novelists today combine such a forensic eye with an acute and humane understanding of human nature. I would read Ann Patchett's shopping list -- Jojo Moyes
She is one of those rare writers, like Anne Enright or Anne Tyler, who is able to convey poignancy and humour in the space of a single sentence -- Elizabeth Day
Patchett is a pleasure to read: there is a no-fuss casualness to the prose that is only possible when a writer is in control of every word and she is master of her art - Observer
Stunning -- India Knight - Sunday Times
We expect a lot from Patchett . This does not let her, or us, down - The Times
Like climbing into a luxurious automobile and hitting the road on a perfect day. Patchett is in the driver's seat and I don't mind where she takes me -- Erica Wagner - New Statesman
Spoken about in the same breath as the likes of Jennifer Egan or Dave Eggers, Patchett is one of the most celebrated novelists of our times . But it is her new book, widely billed a one of this autumn's best new reads, where she truly comes into her own - Sunday Times Magazine
Bliss -- Nigella Lawson
Book Description
An irresistible collection of essays from the internationally bestselling, Women's Prize-winner author of The Dutch House
About the Author
Ann Patchett is the author of six novels and three books of non-fiction. She has been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction three times; with The Magician's Assistant in 1998, winning the prize with Bel Canto in 2002, and was most recently shortlisted with State of Wonder in 2012. She is also the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2012. 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.
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