Ann Patchett Will Eventually Discuss Her Book

I'm so glad other people recommended The Magician's Assistant. Sometimes I feel I am the only person who has read this book. Also she is clearly such a wonderful as told in the article and in the book Truth and Beauty. Th comments about feeling like Cheers really calls to me. That is how I feel about my small public library.

Ann Patchett is an extraordinary person. I met her several years ago at a writer's conference after she did a hilarious interview with novelist (and bookstore owner) Emma Straub. I asked Patchett to recommend some books and her biggest recommendations were for 2 unreleased books that would appear the following year. She'd loved them both. One was the best book I read that year. The other won the Pulitzer Prize. Patchett is so intelligent, charming and generous that she could be a great heroine in someone else's novel. I've met a lot of writers over 4 decades and she stands out as a fine writer and someone wholly dedicated to the promotion of literature. I hope that Amazon store that opens near Parnassus Books is a miserable failure. Re: Goober the Bernese mountain dog. I also have a messy drooly but otherwise perfect dog. My advice is to let Goober continue to sweetly loll around the store but keep a Swiffer with some wet wipes close by to mop up after him. When a dog is basically a very good dog - as Goober seems to be - concessions should be made.

I have been reading and loving Ann Patchett’s novels since “The Patron Saint of Liars” first appeared. As a former shelter volunteer, I was thrilled to learn that she adopted a rescue dog. Years ago, Patchett described her dog at the time as “smarter than a tree full of owls.” I co-opted that phrase. (Sorry, Ann.) Until my own shelter dog, Jenny, died, I told her every day that she was a good girl, the most beautiful pit bull on the planet, and smarter than a tree full of owls.

I walk into Parnassus and explain the life circumstances of the person for whom I want to purchase a book. Every staff member I’ve met has offered great suggestions, from many different angles, for gift books. I thought my years of buying books while living in Boston and NYC had made me a sophisticate. How little I knew before moving near Parnassus. It feels different when an author runs the sale...

I am so thankful Ann Patchett exists. Her imagination is one of a kind, and the world needs more people who are gifted in the unique, rare art of "book matchmaking." Thank you for shining a light on a really wonderful human being.

I just finished reading Commonwealth, my first Ann Patchett book. I appreciate learning some of the context for that story from this article. My thought when I finished reading Commonwealth was, Oh boy, I have so many other Patchett books to enjoy. And now her latest in the horizon. Can't wait!

I have read Ann Patchett for years: the good (Bel Canto), the bad (well, there is no bad, but I didn't like Commowealth) and the ugly (Truth and Beauty). Also, the transcendent: The Magician's Assistant. Looking forward to The Dutch House.

I don't buy many books, but when I do, I buy from Parnassus.

I just love Ann Patchett. Can't wait for this new book!

I love her book store Parnassus in Nashville. Not very big, but very good.

Lovely article. Nashville is lucky to have Ann Patchett and her bookstore. But I'm curious: how do the dogs browse Parnassus? Do they recoil from the poetry shelves and T.S. Eliot? Give wide berth to "Marley and Me?" Run straight to Jack London? J.R. Ackerley? William Wegman? Fred Gipson? I'm looking forward to a follow-up literary piece on Sparky.

A lovely article about a gifted writer and her wonderful bookstore. People of Nashville and beyond— I implore you to ignore the Amazon store and continue right on into Parnassus for your books. Why? One reason suffices: Parnassus is part of you as you are part of Parnassus and Amazon can never be that! Amazon cares nothing for you or your community. Discounts are nought compared to the shared life of the mind that you enjoy in Parnassus. If you must count pennies may I suggest buying fewer books? It’s not as silly as it sounds because your appetite for reading might just increase on a stricter budget. Finally, I’ve seen an Amazon bookstore and it was ugly, sterile, and useless. All the best to Ann, her large cohort of accomplishef writers, and the book-buying folks of Nashville. Just don’t let your deal go down!!!