This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage: A Collection

Many people ask me how I select the books I read. Sometimes they've been recommended by someone else whose preferences are similar to mine, or I've read enthusiastic reviews about them. In other cases, I've been intrigued by the title or even the cover. (Never underestimate the power of a stroll through a bookstore when you can find one.) But quite often, I choose books written by authors whose books I've come to love. There is a growing list of authors I'm constantly looking up on Amazon to see when their next book will be released, authors whose books I read sight unseen, unless they're a major departure from their usual work.Ann Patchett is definitely one of those authors. I first became familiar with her after reading the marvelous Bel Canto, then read her earlier books and have devoured all of the books she has written since then, fiction and nonfiction. So I was intrigued to read This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, a collection of articles and other writings she has published in a wide variety of media, from The Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times to Gourmet and Granta, even her introduction to the volume she edited for The Best American Short Stories collection.Contrary to the title, this isn't just a book about marriage, although several of the articles touch on different aspects of her relationship with her husband Karl through the years. But many of the articles touch on other relationships—her brief, disastrous first marriage; her friendship with the late poet Lucy Grealy (which Patchett so lovingly recounted in her book Truth & Beauty; her grandmother; her dog; one of the nuns that taught her in Catholic school; even her relationship with her work. And still other articles talk about her need for and love of the occasional solitary vacation; her experiences trying out for the LAPD and getting to understand the RV culture; becoming the co-owner of an independent bookstore in Nashville; and her love of short stories."Many of the essays I'm proudest of were made from the things that were at hand—writing and love, work and loss. I may have roamed in my fiction, but this work tends to reflect a life lived close to home."As always, Patchett's writing is thought-provoking, humorous, and, at times, tremendously moving. The articles aren't arranged in chronological order in the book, and they're written for different purposes, so it may take a minute to get your bearings for you to realize where in Patchett's life a particular essay is taking place. (In some she's married, in others she's dating her future husband; in some her dog is a puppy and in some her dog is elderly.) But Patchett always provides context for what she's talking about so it's interesting to get so many different perspectives.There were so many instances in which I marveled at what Patchett had to say. Her use of language is so dazzling at times I had to re-read paragraphs or sentences to get the full extent of their power. In the title essay, for example, when she recounts the tumultuous relationship she and her husband had in the years before they were married: "I try to study our happiness so that I will be able to remember it in the future, just in case something happens and we find ourselves in need. These moments are the foundation upon which we build the house that will shelter us into our final years, so that when love calls out, 'How far would you go for me?' you can look it in the eye and say truthfully, 'Farther than you would ever have thought was possible.'"And one other example, from "Dog Without End," a beautiful tribute to her dog: "Sometimes love does not have the most honorable beginnings, and the endings, the endings will break you in half. It's everything in between we live for."I loved this book as much as I've loved Patchett's fiction. I feel tremendously fortunate to have gotten so much insight into her life, her mind, and her heart, and I think this will help enhance my enjoyment of her future work even more. If you like her writing, definitely pick this up. It's tremendously captivating, even if you choose to read it a little at a time rather than all at once. Don't miss out.

I adore Ann Patchett. I love her books. I love the story of her friendship with Lucy Grealy I love that when Nashville lost its bookstores she opened up an independent one of her own. I loved watching her interview with Stephen Colbert (if you haven't seen it, find it on YouTube). And I loved that in this book of her essays, all previously published, but all new to me, she touches on all those subjects as well as many others.My book club decided to read this collection because we thought it would be a quick read (and it was) and because we've enjoyed Patchett's books so much she is the only author I can think of that, when she publishes something new, we always consider it and nearly always read it. Now, this is not a perfect book, but Patchett is an excellent writer and does non-fiction as well as she does fiction. I wasn't aware of her background as a magazine contributor, but it wasn't at all surprising to see that in both types of writing she visits many of the same themes generally very artfully. I loved that in the first few pages she mentioned her early work with Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of Random Family, one of my all-time favorite books.OK, so some of the essays were a bit long for me (but she actually even touches on that, noting that her non-fiction was always a slave to the word count required by the publisher) but they were all good, some great (particular standouts for me were the story of her RV trip with her estranged partner, lifelong friendship with an elderly nun, her adult relationship with her grandmother (the reference to "picking up the horrible fried-fish planks from Captain D's she loved" (213) made me laugh out loud....I used to do the very same thing for my grandmother, only she preferred Long John Silver's) and her recounting of the controversy when [title: Truth and Beauty] was selected as Clemson's freshman class read).And then, oh, the dog stories. Any animal lover will fall a little in love with Rose and I'm not ashamed to say I had the patented Oprah-ugly-cry while reading "Dog Without End" which is one of the most beautiful tributes I've ever read. My husband and I don't have children, but do have beloved dogs so I have lived through the same comments she and her husband receive, that dogs are just a placeholder (then, later, a substitute) for children and I love how she shuts down those "well-meaning" folk, describing exactly how I feel, "'Look at that,' people said, looking at me and not Rose. 'Look how badly she wants a baby.' A baby? I held up my dog for them to see, my bright, beautiful dog. 'A dog,' I said. 'I've always wanted a dog.' The truth is, I have no memory of ever wanting a baby. I have never peered longingly into someone else's stroller. I have, on occasions too numerous to list, bent down on the sidewalk to rub the ears of strange dogs, to whisper to them about their limpid eyes." (75-76). Exactly. And in one sentence she sums up my feelings about dogs with pedigrees (yes, I DO judge people who buy and don't adopt. I do. I try to be a better person than that, but then see the heartbreaking photos of pets nobody wants.) Rose was a "Parking Lot Dog, dropped off in a snowstorm to meet her fate" (77). There are way too many Parking Lot Roses out there - if we buy dogs and don't adopt from shelters or rescues, we are saying they aren't valuable enough to save. So, there's my PSA for the day.However, my adoration for Patchett blossomed into something else when she compared her relationship with her grandmother to her relationship with Rose. When I lost my maternal grandmother (I was in my thirties) I explained it to my husband in the very same terms that Patchett uses - love for an elderly grandparent is often so similar to the love you have for your dogs, because it's so clear, so true and so unmarked by disappointment and constant change. I was just gutted an felt I was experiencing it again. I marked a lot more dog lines so I could save them for myself.So, if you like Ann Patchett, read this. if you love essays or great magazine writing, read it. If you love dogs, read the dog essays, then read the whole thing.

If you want to know more about Ann Patchet, by reading these short stories, you learn of her life. Wonderfully written, entertaining and moving

I had not realized that this is not a novel but a collection of articles / speeches that the author colelcted over time. Nevertheless it was a good reading, and it is going to make me read other novels written by her (described "from behind" in this book)

So matter of fact and truthful, that it doesn't even feel like you're reading a book. The chapters meander along, and you walk in its wake holding on to Ann's hand

This is wonderful collection of stories that gives insight into life as a writer and a woman of our times.

Some of her most memorable short articles on her life experiences. I have not come across Ms Patchett's work before, and I'm an instant fan. If I could, I'd be down to the Parnassus bookshop in a flash.