Geraldine and Ann Patchett are good friends. Of course, they are.
Ann, as you know, is not only a stellar fiction writer, but also owns Parnassus Books in Nashville. I made a huge mistake on my recent trip through Nashville--I should have planned the whole return trip around Parnassus. I didn't yet know that Luci would have been warmly welcomed there, and by Nashville I was too crumpled and exhausted to stop for an extra day.
Ann Patchett does wonderful book talks and recommendations every Friday, and you can find them online.
As Geraldine recalls, when she met Ann in the bookstore ten years ago:
"I loved the bookstore on first sight, because it was full of dogs. Ann, like me, is a dog obsessive, and her staff are encouraged to bring their dogs to work."
Ann told her, "I"m one dog away from being shut down by the health department."
The writing and dog loving worlds almost always overlap. I love knowing how friendships begin and grow:
Ann is both empathetic and acerbic, a combination that reminds me of my mum. When her novel Commonwealth came out, I persuaded her to present it at the Martha's Vineyard Book Festival so that we could hang out together. She and her husband, Karl, a chevalier from Mississippi, stayed with us.
And now we shared a strange bond. The very last time Tony and I were together was in Nashville. I'd joined a week into his book tour. The events manager at Parnassas thought it would be fun if I interviewed him, and I jumped at the chance to join him on the road and reconnect with Ann.
The last meal we'd had together was after that event, with Ann and Bruce, Tony's roommate when we were grad students at Columbia Journalism School. Bruce, a Southerner, had settled in Nashville, in a house just a few doors down from Ann.
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