Ann Patchett’s splendid new essay collection, These Precious Days, overflows with life — the joys of friendship, the bonds of family, the delights of bookstores and dogs, the mysteries of writing.
In “The First Thanksgiving,” Patchett recounts being a 17-year-old college student stranded in her dorm for the holiday.
None of that made her feel better.
Needing less is also a theme in “How to Practice,” about helping her childhood friend Tavia clean out the condominium Tavia’s father had lived in since the 1970s — and apparently not thrown anything away the whole time.
Many of the essays, of course, focus on writing, her own and other people’s.
In “Reading Kate DiCamillo,” Patchett writes about meeting the beloved children’s author and deciding to read one of her books, even though “in my adult life I’d never made a habit of reading children’s literature.” The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane so bowls her over she reads all of DiCamillo’s books, culminating in a mystical experience with The Magician’s Elephant.
As a child, Patchett writes, “I had seen the benefits and costs of beauty and decided to pass.” But she mourns for her mother’s other qualities — intelligence, kindness, wit, a dedicated career as a nurse — overshadowed by her beauty.
“There Are No Children Here” is Patchett’s self-assured and refreshing response to the countless people who question her decision, made early in life, to be childless.
Many of the essays touch on death, from Patchett’s journey to Welty’s funeral to her excavation of Tavia’s father’s condo and the deaths of her own three fathers.
The whole story, Patchett writes, is improbable.
A few weeks later Hanks’ publicist asks if she will fly to Washington, D.C., to interview him as part of his book tour.
And so she meets Sooki Raphael, Hanks’ assistant.
The story of the two women’s extraordinary friendship is so surprising and rich I won’t spoil what follows, but “These Precious Days” will both break and lift your heart.