This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage: A Collection - Hardcover

Patchett, Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062236679 ISBN 13: 9780062236678

Publisher: Harper, 2013

Synopsis

A Reese Witherspoon Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick

"As the best personal essays often do, Patchett's is a two-way mirror, reflecting both the author and her readers." --New York Times Book Review

In this thoughtful collection of essays, New York Times bestselling author Ann Patchett brings her narrative gifts to bear on her own life, using insight and compassion to turn very personal experiences into stories that will resonate with every reader.

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage takes us into the very real world of Ann Patchett’s life. Stretching from her childhood to the present day, from a disastrous early marriage to a later happy one, it covers a multitude of topics, including relationships with family and friends, and charts the hard work and joy of writing, and the unexpected thrill of opening a bookstore.

An irresistible blend of literature and memoir, this "sparkling collection" (The New Yorker) is a unique examination of the heart, mind, and soul of one of our most revered and gifted writers.

About this title

From the Back Cover

 A Globe & Mail 100 Selection

The New York Times bestselling author of State of Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto creates a resonant portrait of a life in this collection of writings on love, friendship, work, and art.

"The tricky thing about being a writer, or about being any kind of artist, is that in addition to making art you also have to make a living."

So begins This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, an examination of the things Ann Patchett is fully committed to—the art and craft of writing, the depths of friendship, an elderly dog, and one spectacular nun. Writing nonfiction, which started off as a means of keeping her insufficiently lucrative fiction afloat, evolved over time to be its own kind of art, the art of telling the truth as opposed to the art of making things up. Bringing her narrative gifts to bear on her own life, Patchett uses insight and compassion to turn very personal experiences into stories that will resonate with every reader.

These essays twine to create both a portrait of life and a philosophy of life. Obstacles that at first appear insurmountable—scaling a six-foot wall in order to join the Los Angeles Police Department, opening an independent bookstore, and sitting down to write a novel—are eventually mastered with quiet tenacity and a sheer force of will. The actual happy marriage, which was the one thing she felt she wasn't capable of, ultimately proves to be a metaphor as well as a fact: Patchett has devoted her life to the people and ideals she loves the most.

An irresistible blend of literature and memoir, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a unique examination of the heart, mind, and soul of one of our most revered and gifted writers.

About the Author

ANN PATCHETT is the author of seven novels, The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, The Magician’s Assistant, Bel Canto, Run, State of Wonder, and Commonwealth. She was the editor of Best American Short Stories, 2006, and has written three books of nonfiction, Truth & Beauty, about her friendship with the writer, Lucy Grealy, What now? an expansion of her graduation address at Sarah Lawrence College, and, most recently, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, a collection of essays.

 

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0062236679
• ISBN 13: 9780062236678
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320