BOOKS I READ: These Precious Days by Ann Patchett (2021). A touching collection of essays about her fathers (yes, plural), old friends, and new friends. The title story, and the longest piece in the book, is about Sooki, a new friend she makes through her acquaintance with Tom Hanks, whom she interviews on stage for a promotional event for his book. Sooki has cancer, a bad cancer. (Are there any good ones?) Ann and her husband, Karl, take her in so she can participate in a clinical trial at a hospital in Nashville, their home town. Sooki is from California, where this particular trial has been postponed due to the pandemic. Patchett’s boundless generosity toward her new friend bubbles to the surface, leaving the reader in awe that she can so easily conjure so many acts of kindness. This personality trait becomes a lens for reading her other stories in the book.
Not all the essays are heavy or on difficult matters. Many feature a strong streak of humor. For example, her take on Snoopy playing the role of an aspiring writer in Charles Schulz’s strip is quite funny. She makes a case why Snoopy is the inspiration for her writing life. Also central to many of the essays is her role as the owner of a bookstore, Parnassus Books, in Nashville. As her bookstore grows in stature, it develops a literary gravitational pull. Given that one feels, after reading the book, that one already knows Ann Patchett, visiting her there would be like going to meet an old friend.
Pick up a copy of These Precious Days at my Bookshop.org affiliate stand. Check out The Books I’m Reading in 2024. The previous log entry was:
