I’m a big fan of Ann Patchett’s work. Diane’s Book Club read Patchett’s Bel Canto and some of the members consider it the best book they ever read! I’ve reviewed The Dutch House (you can read my review here) and This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage (you can read that review here).
Ann Patchett’s latest work is a collection of her essays. Diane and I decided to listen to the audiobook version (9 CDs, 11 hours and 15 minutes). Ann Patchett proves to be a wonderful narrator!
The diversity of subjects Ann Patchett writes about impressed me. From “Three Fathers” to Patchett hosting “The First Thanksgiving” as an adult, to her experiences in Paris as a student, Patchett presents her own view of Life with the decisions she makes. And in some cases, like “To the Doghouse,” Patchett admits reading Peanuts comics and learning from Snoopy affected her writing and her Life.
My favorite essays in These Precious Days are “Eudora Welty, an Introduction.” Welty became such an important writer to Ann Patchett that she drove from Nashville to Jackson, Mississippi to attend Welty’s funeral. I also loved “Reading Kate DiCamillo,” where Patchett discovers a writer and ends up with a great friend.
If you’re looking for intelligent, interesting, and moving essays, I highly recommend These Precious Days. This would make a great Holiday Gift for that book lover on your Gift List! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: Essays don’t die — 1
Three fathers — 9
First Thanksgiving — 37
The Paris tattoo — 43
My year of no shopping — 51
The worthless servant — 59
How to practice — 77
To the doghouse — 103
Eudora Welty, an introduction — 113
Flight plan — 121
How knitting saved my life. Twice. — 149
Tavia — 159
There are no children here — 169
A paper ticket is good for one year — 206
The moment nothing changed — 213
The nightstand — 220
A talk to the Association of Graduate School Deans in the Humanities — 252
Cover stories — 272
Reading Kate DiCamillo — 287
Sisters — 297
These precious days — 304
Two more things I want to say about my father — 302
What the American Academy of Arts and Letters taught me about death — 404
Epilogue: a day at the beach — 414
Acknowledgements — 423
Not only do nearly all readers have a TBR stack, which may or may not be a literal pile of books, but probably most of us have a list of writers we’re planning to get to one of these days. I can’t come up with a catchy acronym for it, but it exists just as surely as the TBR stack. Ann Patchett has been on mine for 20 years, since I read the reviews of BEL CANTO. One of these days…. Maybe I’ll start with THESE PRECIOUS DAYS.
Michael, Diane and I enjoy listening to audiobooks while we’re eating our Lunch. The audiobook of THESE PRECIOUS DAYS, narrated by Ann Patchett, is a pleasant way to “read” the book while having a BLT.
I’m almost halfway through this and agree wholeheartedly. I loved her first book of essays and this one is terrific too. “Three Fathers” was excellent and moving, and I loved the story of her making Thanksgiving dinner in her dorm as a college freshman. I really need to read more of her fiction. The Paris essay came from an anthology (I checked the acknowledgement page) called AN INNOCENT ABROAD: LIFE-CHANGING TRIPS FROM 35 GREAT WRITERS, so naturally I had to immediately get that from the library, and I am reading it as well. Some of the authors besides Patchett are Sloane Crosley, Jan Morris, Dave Eggers, Pico Iyer, Richard Ford and Alexander McCall Smith.
Jeff, thanks for the info on AN INNOCENT ABROAD. I’ll have to check that out.
I loved every essay until I arrived at the ones about Tom Hanks assistant with cancer. A little too real for me right now. She is such a great writer. Especially loved the one about her three fathers too. BEL CANTO is one of my all time favorite novels. Will look for the AN INNOCENT ABROAD.
Patti, yes, essays about the assistant with cancer were gut-wrenching. Ann Patchett deserves more attention for her excellent writing.
I don’t think I’ve read anything by her, but should. Maybe I’ll try this one. Thanks, George!
Rick, I’m a big fan of Ann Patchett’s work. Plus, she owns a bookstore! It doesn’t get better than that!
I’m number 223 on 14 copies at the library, so I’ll be reading this next year sometime.
Rick, I’m probably #200 for several Library books. The problem is…they usually ALL come in at once!
Just ordered my favorite pie for Christmas! Yay! Strawberry Rhubarb. Barbara will have her cheesecake, I’ll be having pie, maybe even a la mode!
Rick, Patrick and Katie are great bakers–Katie’s taken some classes in cake baking in Boston–and Diane and can’t wait to see what they decide to bake for Christmas. I’m lobbying for a Carrot Cake, but an Apple Pie or Pecan Pie will do nicely! Of course, plenty of Christmas cookies and candy will show up. Katie is considering chicken for Christmas with dressing, green beans, Jello salad, mashed potatoes, hot buns, and some surprises! Can’t wait!
Sounds tasty, George. We’re going for the traditional Jewish meal of Chinese takeout!
We will have sugar-free chocolate pudding pie for dessert, however.
Jeff, the menus are always fluid when Patrick and Katie are in charge. They will bake something new on a whim!
Rick, we had a place in Brooklyn years ago that made the absolute BEST strawberry rhubarb pie. but sadly they closed suddenly in some kind of corporate sell-off or something of the like. Sad.
Jeff, a third of Western NY restaurants closed during the Pandemic. If Omicron hits hard, more restaurants will fail.
Jeff, ours will come from Blue Raeven Pies, a small local outfit. I did a post on them some time back: https://brokenbullhorn.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/like-pie/.
I’m sure she’s a fine writer but I won’t be reading any of these books! I have too many other things around here to occupy my time! And I’m not a fan of Welty!
I rarely have a mincemeat pie and if I can find one between now and Xmas I’ll buy it!
Bob, I don’t think I’ve ever tasted mincemeat pie. I’m an apple pie or pecan pie guy!