Ann Patchett's Blog, page 32
May 7, 2019
27 Reads We Love (And Your Mom Might, Too)
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May is here! We’ve rounded up a new batch of titles that would not only make the perfect spring treat-yo-shelf gifts for you, but might also make great gifts for the moms in your life.* Whether you’re looking for an essay collection on grandparenthood, a primer on gardening, or the latest fiction release, this month’s collection of books should fit the bill.
* On that note: If you’d like us to send any of these books as Mother’s Day gifts, be sure to order by midnight TONIGHT — Tuesday, May 7 — and select PRIORITY SHIPPING, so they’ll get there in time. Also let us know in the notes section at checkout if you’d like us to gift wrap them, free! (The priority shipping part is really important, especially because media mail doesn’t allow anything but the book in the package, including gift wrap.)
FICTION
Recommended by Katherine
Normal PeopleReviewers are calling it Great Millennial Fiction, but I’ll just go ahead and call it a comedy of errors set in present-day Ireland. If you like the writing of Rachel Cusk mixed with a touch of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, this is a novel you should read. It was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
Recommended by Kathy
The Guest BookI agree with all the advance reviews. It is one of the best books I’ve ever read. A family saga written in beautiful prose… don’t miss this!
Recommended by Keltie
Women Talking This compact novel left me at a loss for words. I have tried to convince every patron looking for their Next Great Read to try it, but vocabulary fails me. Based on a true crime of almost unspeakable sexual violence, set in a colony of religious separatists, and told through the minutes taken as eight women meet to debate their fates, this book asks the questions everyone faces in some way: to stay? to fight? to leave?
Recommended by Kevin
China Dream By Ma Jian, Flora Drew (Translator)
This is an absurd and surreal vision of a corrupt bureaucrat in the Chinese Communist Party whose pipe dream of a device that would supplant the population’s dreams with state propaganda uncorks his own repressed memories. Wild!
Recommended by Lauren
Walking on the CeilingThis elegant, compact debut explores how we’re shaped by the people and places that raise us. As Nunu walks the streets of Paris, she examines the points where stories and memories intermingle and diverge. When she asks who she’s been — and who she’s becoming — a mysterious friendship illuminates Nunu’s path back to herself, and ultimately, the path back home. I was captivated.
Recommended by Steve
The Parisian The rich, immersive tale of Midhat, a stranger dispatched to France, who then returns to Palestine, the place that made him, only to find it becoming stranger by the day under the pressures of war and colonialism. Written in a throwback realistic style where every detail and mannerism rings with significance, The Parisian carries the heft of history and the feel of a classic.
Recommended by Rae Ann
Lost Roses I thoroughly enjoyed the intertwined stories of the women in this prequel to Lilac Girls. Book clubs will love this one!
Recommended by Cat
Light from Other Stars The perfect blend of a little sci-fi, coming-of-age, and family relationships from the ever masterful Erika Swyler. This one is for those of you who hated post-apocalyptic novels but fell in love with Station Eleven.
Recommended by Kay
Spinning Silver Spinning Silver is about the things we owe, the things we give, and all the bargains we make in between. From beginning to end, it’s beautiful and exceptionally clever — truly one of the best fantasy novels I’ve read in years.
NONFICTION
Recommended by Ann
Black Is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine Gorgeous and important essays on matters of race, marriage, motherhood, and friendship. I want to give this book to everyone I know.
Recommended by Ann
Mostly Plants: 101 Delicious Flexitarian Recipes from the Pollan Family By Tracy Pollan, Dana Pollan, Lori Pollan, Corky Pollan, Michael Pollan
The entire Pollan clan has put together a cookbook I am presently obsessed with. “Eat food, not too much of it, mostly plants.” Here are the recipes to do it.
Recommended by Ann
A Way to Garden: A Hands-On Primer for Every Season A gorgeous, helpful, and tenderly funny book for anyone who likes putting plants in the ground. I love the fact that it’s “A Way to Garden” not “THE Way to Garden.” Less hubris, more mulch.
Recommended by Rae Ann
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek Told through the lives of the Kentucky Pack Horse librarians and the Blue People of Kentucky, The Book Woman is a searing portrait of poverty and the hope that books can provide.
Recommended by Mary Laura
Southern Lady CodeHelen Ellis zigs and zags from deeply personal stories (see: the essay on her decision not to have children) to hilariously weird concept pieces (see: “Today Was a Good Day!” in which she counts such daily blessings as, “I didn’t choke on a cupcake for breakfast”). Enjoy wit, introspection, and subversion mixed together in a blend that could only come from Ellis’s mind.
Recommended by Mary Laura
Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say Newly available in paperback (and perfect for stashing in a purse or the car or taking on a plane), Tell Me More is celebrated writer Kelly Corrigan’s guide to making truer connections with the people we love, the people we don’t love so much, and even strangers. The gist? It all comes down to what we say. (For example: “I was wrong” carries greater and different weight than “I’m sorry.”)
Recommended by Mary Laura
Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting Do you have a cool woman in your life who has recently become a grandmother? Give her this. It’s Anna Quindlen. It’s about nana-hood. What more perfect gift could there be?
Recommended by Sissy
#IMomSoHard By Kristin Hensley, Jen Smedley
If you know a new mom, get her this book. A hilarious look at the real struggles of women who are trying to conceive, trying to parent, or just trying to survive.
Recommended by Niki
Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool Despite being a parent, I’m not one for parenting books. But I was totally and completely enthralled with this one, which breaks down child-related data like the statistical impact of sleep training or the median age of successful potty training. Oster helps parents see the bell curve of baby and toddlerhood in a whole new reassuring way.
Recommended by Devin
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee A family is murdered in Alabama, and Reverend Willie Maxwell, related to the deceased, is put on trial for the crimes. After hearing about the case, Harper Lee returns to Alabama to watch the trial. Maxwell is spared when a savvy lawyer takes his case and wins. The reporting of the crimes reads like a Southern gothic, while the biography of Lee is extraordinary and the most detailed I’ve read on the private author.
Recommended by Keltie
Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells I am late in finding Pico Iyer. He is a British-born American of Indian descent but has spent the last 30 years mostly in Japan with Hiroko, his “ultra-chic, motorbike-riding wife.” This memoir is a brief account of the time following the death of Hiroko’s father. Iyer sees himself as outside of “place,” but this beautiful tome feels Japanese in its unadorned elegance: “Autumn is the season when everything falls away.” I swoon.
Recommended by Katherine
Walking: One Step At a Time By Erling Kagge, Becky L. Crook (Translated by)
Committing to walk every single day changed my life (see: me gushing over Bonnie Smith Whitehouse’s brilliant guided journal Afoot and Lighthearted a month ago). Erling Kagge has gifted us a meditation on what we are designed to do on a most basic level: put one foot in front of the other. It’s just that simple, but let yourself find it profound and ancient, because it is.
Recommended by Keltie
Booked: A Traveler’s Guide to Literary Locations Around the World My childhood was a world tour of literary locations. Disneyland for me? NO SIR. But at age eight, I did walk for hours through London to see every place mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes canon. Mom preferred Cornwall, to follow in the footsteps of Daphne du Maurier. This book is the perfect gift for any mom who thinks a reading of Anne of Green Gables might best be paired with a visit to Prince Edward’s Island!
Recommended by Sissy
A Sin by Any Other Name: Reckoning with Racism and the Heritage of the South By Robert W. Lee, Bernice A. King (Foreword by)
Charlottesville ignited passions about Southern culture all over our nation. Reverend Rob Lee reminds us that the past is past, and moving forward is going to require a completely different attitude. Understanding the problems of the South will require both intense listening and action.
Recommended by Andy
Working Robert Caro is known for his Pulitzer Prize winning biographies about Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson. In this short memoir, Caro shares his writing process, from his legendary research to his handwritten first drafts and subsequent rewrites. His attention to detail allows Caro to “show rather than tell” and to make his readers understand and feel the complexities of power.
POETRY
Recommended by Mary Laura
Brute: Poems Give this poetry collection to anyone who has come out on the other side of a toxic relationship. Skaja, who credits Sylvia Plath as an influence, won the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets, and as you absorb the balance of rage, wisdom and even humor in each exquisitely constructed poem, you’ll understand why. My favorite is, “No, I Do Not Want to Connect With You On LinkedIn.”
Recommended by Ben
How to Love a Country: Poems In this accessible yet profound collection, presidential inaugural poet Richard Blanco puts faces and emotions to our country’s complicated history while affirming hope and beauty. Anchored by the central Whitmanesque poem “American Wandersong,” he blends personal experiences with broader social contexts (such as immigration, gun violence, and LGBTQ issues), giving close attention to image and sound.
First Editions Club: May Selection
Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide
Fredrick Law Olmstead’s impact on American public places is well documented. Central Park, the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, and the grounds of the U.S. Capitol are just a few of his projects that have helped change the perception of public spaces. What is not as well documented is just how he came to his philosophy of design.
Tony Horwitz, author of the acclaimed Confederates in the Attic, retraces Olmstead’s journey from New York City to Mexico and all points in between, contrasting today’s South with what Olmstead found in the 1850s. He parallels Olmstead as much as possible, even using the same modes of transportation. This requires some creativity at times, like when Horwitz attends the Louisiana “Mudfest” in order to experience the lamentable mud that Olmstead described from his travels.
Horwitz provides a fair and honest assessment of the South. Spying on the South is incredibly perceptive of the complexities of the region. At the same time, it can be hilariously funny. Horwitz’s attempt to mimic Olmstead’s mule ride in the Texas Hill Country involves a hospital visit!
Spying on the South looks at a country divided in ways not too different from the time prior to the Civil War. I think you will enjoy following Horwitz as he retraces Olmstead’s journey that helped develop his philosophy of common green areas and the positive psychological effect that a pleasing landscape can produce.
–Andy Brennan
Store Manager
(Note: This book will be published on May 14, 2019. Signed copies will go out after Tony Horwitz’s visit on May 21.)
More about our First Editions Club: Every member receives a first edition of the selected book of the month, signed by the author. Books are carefully chosen by our staff of readers, and our picks have gone on to earn major recognition including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Plus, there’s no membership fee or premium charge for these books. Build a treasured library of signed first editions and always have something great to read! Makes a FABULOUS gift, too.
Parnassus Book Club — Upcoming Meeting Schedule
May – The Only Story by Julian Barnes
Monday, May 13 at 6:30pm
Wednesday, May 15 at 6:30pm
Thursday, May 16 at 10am
Classics Club – Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Gray
Monday, May 20 at 10am and 6:30pm
June – A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Monday, June 17 at 6:30pm
Wednesday, June 19 at 6:30pm
Thursday, June 20 at 10am
Classics Club – The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Monday, July 29 at 10am and 6:30pm
Are you a member of our store book club? Would you like to be? Parnassus Book Club and Classics Club meetings are free and open to anyone. Buy the book, read along, and join the discussion!
Reminder: Don’t miss Tony Horwitz, author of this month’s First Editions Club pick, Spying on the South, when he joins us in the store Tuesday, May 21, at 6:30pm. This event is free and open to the public.
April 30, 2019
Barnyard Democracy: Ann Patchett, Author of Lambslide, on Her Debut Children’s Picture Book
[image error]Today’s post includes an interview that also runs at Chapter16.org .
Remember last year, when Ann Patchett dropped news that she was trying her hand at writing a children’s picture book for children? The time has come for readers to see the result! Ann’s book, a collaboration with Fancy Nancy illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser, debuts next week. We can’t wait for you to have a look at Lambslide.
What’s the book about? Voting… kind of. When young Nicolette Farmer runs for class president at school, the lambs on her family farm overhear talk of “winning by a landslide,” but what the lambs hear is “lambslide.” Adorable antics ensue.
Ann Patchett and Robin Preiss Glasser will join readers at Parnassus Monday, May 6, 2019, at 4:30 p.m. in the store for a fun event with a book signing afterwards. Meanwhile, Patchett answered a few questions from children’s book critic Julie Danielson about Lambslide. Here’s their exchange, courtesy of Chapter 16:
Julie Danielson: What sparked this narrative? Did you hear a malapropism, by chance, and a story was born?
[image error]Ann Patchett: I started writing children’s books about a year ago after meeting Robin Preiss Glasser, and for a while it seemed like everything I saw sparked an idea. Lambslide was probably the fourth or fifth one I wrote. (They aren’t coming out in any particular order.) I was reading The New York Times the morning after Conor Lamb won the 17th congressional district of Pennsylvania, and someone was holding a poster that said “LAMBSLIDE” on it. I was only amazed that a hundred other picture book authors didn’t jump to the same conclusion.
JD: I like how the lambs democratically campaign (with President Nicolette’s wise guidance) for what they want. Since an election is a significant plot point, do you hope for the story to be an introduction to activism for children?
AP: I don’t know that the book is a call for activism as much as it is a call to check in with the people around you and try to figure out if the thing you want matches up with the thing they want. I think it’s a story about learning to be a thoughtful member of a group.
I also know I was fascinated with voting when I was little. It seemed like the ultimate glamorous adult activity. I love the idea of children thinking about voting early on. This would be a great place for parents and children to start having a conversation about voting, not just in terms of our government, but in a family, in a school, in a group of friends. A question as simple as “How many of you want pizza?” can be the root of voting. I may want Thai food, but if the group votes for pizza, we’re going to eat pizza.
JD: What are some details Robin Preiss Glasser added to the story that make you happy to see?
[image error]A prototype pencil rendering of Sparky by Robin Preiss Glasser
AP: Robin is a tremendous collaborator. Every single thing I know about children’s books I learned from Robin. She figured out how to make the slide. I was thinking of something entirely whimsical, but she took the tarp off the hay bales and made it into a slide. I was floored by that. She keeps just the right balance of imagination (lambs are talking and voting) and practicality (lambs could slide down the hill on a tarp and have fun). Also, she gave my dog Sparky a cameo on every page. Sparky is a lead character in some of the later Farmer books. The fact that he’s embedded into the story line of this book thrills me.
JD: Which children’s books from your own childhood most resonated with you?
AP: I loved Dare Wright’s The Lonely Doll, which is about as strange as a picture book can get. I bought a first edition at Powell’s years ago for my sister, and I don’t think anything has ever thrilled her more. Those black-and-white photographs of Edith and Mr. Bear and Little Bear are hard to forget. My sister also loved Der Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffman, a book as dark as midnight. I was three-and-a-half years younger than Heather, so I pretty much followed her lead. I loved [Maurice] Sendak’s Nutshell Library, both for its brilliance and its tininess. I’m still singing the Carole King songs that went with those books.
JD: As one of the most prominent faces of the independent bookstore movement, can you talk about what role children’s books have in driving traffic to the store?
[image error]The kids’ section at Parnassus Books is specially curated by our director of books and events for young readers, Stephanie Appell, and a team of expert children’s booksellers. Find it under the star lights!
AP: Before Karen Hayes and I opened Parnassus, I remember Daniel Goldin at Boswell’s Books in Milwaukee saying to me, “If you want customers, you have to raise them yourself.” That’s the truth. Having a great children’s department, having a great story time, having booksellers that are specifically trained as children’s booksellers—these make all the difference. I love knowing that there’s a whole generation of kids growing up with Parnassus, making their happy associations with books right there in our store.
Before we opened, I knew plenty of people who wrote for adults, but I didn’t know any children’s book authors. If I can make a ridiculous generalization, children’s authors are the nicest people in the world. Sandy Boynton, Tad Hills, Kate DiCamillo, Mac Barnett, and Jon Klassen. I could go on and on. These people are wildly creative and so smart and just fun. I think I got into picture books because I wanted the chance to hang out with them.
JD: What inspires you these days?
AP: As far as picture books are concerned, pretty much everything inspires me. Certainly Sparky is my muse (he’s sleeping now; being a muse is a huge job), but so many things strike me as funny. I’m working on a book now that comes from a couple lines of Macbeth. It’s not Shakespeare’s funniest play, but I can crack myself up just thinking about the picture book. Come to think of it, my rabid desire to write children’s books probably comes from these distinctly unfunny days. I want to make myself laugh, and I want to make other people laugh.
JD: Do you have any advice for those authors already published in the world of adult literature who want to write children’s books?
AP: When people ask me how they should go about getting their novel published or how to find an agent, I have a general idea of how it’s done. But for children’s books, I have absolutely no idea. People have been wanting me to look at their children’s books for years and give them advice, and I would always say, “That’s like asking me how to get an economics textbook published.” So, I’m a little terrified when I think about all the picture books people are going to want me to look at. I feel like I fell into this whole thing backwards with my eyes closed. I have no idea how I do this thing. I’m going to be a very poor role model.
* * *
[image error]Julie Danielson, a former school librarian, blogs at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast and writes about picture books for Kirkus Reviews, BookPage, and The Horn Book. Her first book, Wild Things! Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature, was published in 2014.
Like what you’ve read today? Visit Chapter16.org, the online publication of Humanities Tennessee, to read more great author interviews and reviews.
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And don’t miss the Lambslide book release celebration party on Monday, May 6 at 4:30 p.m., when Ann Patchett and Robin Preiss Glasser will join us for a fun event and book signing. This event is open to the public and free to attend — no reservations necessary. (Fine print: In order to join the signing line to have books brought from home signed at this event, you must purchase a copy of Lambslide from Parnassus Books, either in-store, over the phone, or online.)
April 24, 2019
11 True Crime Titles That Might Make You Sleep with the Lights On
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If there’s one genre that’s having a moment, it’s true crime. Television shows, Netflix specials, podcasts (oh, the podcasts!), and books that pull back the curtain on cold cases, serial killers, and criminal plots gone wrong are rolling out faster than you can click Add to Queue. We’ve rounded up some favorite books from our new true crime section — including classics of the genre and new titles so good you’ll be tempted to read late into the evening. Fair warning: late night reading of these selections may be hazardous to your sleep.
Recommended by Ann
Shot in the HeartMaybe you know the story of Gary Gilmore from reading Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song, but Shot in the Heart, written by Gary’s younger brother, Mikal, blows it out of the water. This takes true crime to a whole new level.
Recommended by Ann
In Cold Blood This was the book that changed the game: a true crime story written as elegantly and compellingly as a novel. Plan to sleep with the lights on.
Recommended by Niki
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith This exploration of a murder inside the fundamentalist Mormon church is part In Cold Blood, part Going Clear. I found it gripping and absolutely un-put-downable.
Recommended by Chelsea
The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Classic Story of Seduction and Murder The first book by the queen of the true crime genre, this novel ties together Ted Bundy’s crimes with the author’s personal relationship with Bundy. Rule highlights her struggle to mesh the person she knew as her coworker and close friend — and one of America’s most prolific serial killers — into the same man.
Recommended by Cat
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI My favorite true crime books almost always have a strong history component to them. Grann’s account of the Osage Murders in the 1920s coincides with the start of the FBI and is insanely compelling — both for the uncovering of the crimes and the snapshot of America at this moment in time.
Recommended by Keltie
The Last Stone: A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation1975: Two sisters are kidnapped from a mall in suburban Maryland. A cub reporter in Baltimore, Mark Bowden, covers the case. The crime goes unsolved. 2013: Four determined detectives take on the very cold case. A surprise suspect emerges, already in prison for another crime. 2019: A master class in criminal interrogation, The Last Stone marks Bowden’s last dispatch on the Lyons sisters’ kidnapping.
Recommended by Chelsea
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer The Golden State Killer terrorized California for 12 years during the 1970s and 80s, and only recently was a suspect arrested. McNamara’s obsession with bringing the perpetrator to justice becomes the reader’s own as she draws you in with a conversational tone and chilling details.
Recommended by Sissy
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America The setting: the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Behind the scenes lurks America’s first noted serial killer. Larson’s storytelling skills have landed this book at the top of all the best true crime book lists.
Recommended by Cat
A Murder in Music City: Corruption, Scandal, and the Framing of an Innocent Man In 1964, Paula Herring was found dead in her Nashville living room. A man was convicted and served time for the murder. Decades later, however, local author Michael Bishop believed the wrong person was convicted. HIs intense dedication to uncovering what actually happened and compassion for Paula make this a must-read for any true crime fan.
Recommended by Sissy
The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South By Radley Balko, Tucker Carrington
This is the story of the many wrongful convictions that brought the Innocence Project to Mississippi. Fast-paced and terrifying, the tale holds you in thrall. Will justice save the men on death row in time?
Recommended by Andy
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson MurdersBy Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
Written by the prosecutor in the Charles Manson case, this is the #1 best selling true crime novel of all time.
You know what else would be a crime? Missing this amazing lineup of spring events. Coming up this weekend: Mary Norris in conversation with Ann Patchett. They’ll discuss The New Yorker copyeditor’s latest book, Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen, this Sunday, April 28, at none other than the Parthenon. Click here to reserve your ticket today.
April 17, 2019
Three New Poetry Books to Celebrate National Poetry Month
It’s National Poetry Month, and while the whole “cruellest month” trope is perhaps a bit overplayed, it does feel true this time around: Before we could get to April this year, we lost Mary Oliver, then W.S. Merwin, and then Linda Gregg. Giants falling. The cruelty here feels particularly acute since all three were such observant chroniclers — and students and stewards — of the natural world. And we are in danger of losing that, too. But as long as we have poems we have hope, or something like it. Had I not already selected it for our monthly staff picks, Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic would be on this list. It’s poetry as parable, and as compelling a book as I’ve read in a long time. Here are three more worth picking up and adding to your poetry shelf. –Steve
Here: Poems for the Planet
Edited by Elizabeth J. Coleman
The great Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz once asked, “What is poetry which does not save / nations or people?” I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to answer that question for myself, but in Here, we’ve been presented with a chorus of voices joined together to inspire the courage we’re going to need to save our planet. The foreword for this collection was written by none other than the Dalai Lama, and if that doesn’t get your attention, then, well, there are a lot of poems that will. Speaking of the recently departed, W.S. Merwin makes an appearance with “Still Life With Sea Pinks and High Tide,” as does Mary Oliver, with “The Fish.” But it’s not just natural beauty we’re asked to ponder. There are also poems like Adam Zagajewski’s “Try to Praise the Mutilated World” — the kind that ask what it means to live between beauty and disaster.
Soft Science
If you’re like most people, you probably didn’t come away from watching Alex Garland’s 2014 sci-fi thriller Ex Machina — in which a Silicon Valley hot shot creates sexy robots, one of which is stripped of its language capacity, another of which seduces a nerdy programmer — and think to yourself, “Now there’s a premise for a book of poems.” But then, Franny Choi isn’t most people, and Soft Science is not like most books of poems. It’s a work of incredible imagination, loosely inspired by the character Kyoko (the Asian-presenting cyborg with no voice), but more importantly engaged in a playful, serious, disorienting exploration of language and human-ness. Do androids dream of blank verse? Consider these lines: “remember / where all that silicon comes from / for the ocean so loved / the quartz / feldspar / the tiny homes of tiny creatures / that she ground them / into sand / to keep them close / to kiss them with / well / i suppose you would call it / a mouth.”
The Tradition
by Jericho Brown
That old saw about necessity and invention cuts to the heart of Jericho Brown’s process — as in, he invented a new form of poem. It’s fascinating to read him describe the process, which you can do here. A snippet of that exploration: “I feel like a person who is hard to understand, given our clichés and stereotypes about people. So I wanted a form that in my head was black and queer and Southern. Since I am carrying these truths in this body as one, how do I get a form that is many forms?” That’s at least partly how he got to the duplex — which is part sonnet, part ghazal, part blues lyric. The Tradition is one of those books where you can just feel a kind of intense compassion, a radical vulnerability, radiating off the page. It’s the kind of book where you not only feel someone carrying their truths, but carrying you along with them.
April 9, 2019
26 Fresh Reads for Spring
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Not only did two of our very own team members publish books this month (congrats, River and Mary Laura!), but we also have 24 more fresh reads ready and waiting to be picked. Short stories, novels, essays, memoir, investigative journalism, poetry — it’s all here this month! Read on to find which one(s) you’ll want to take home next.
FICTION
Recommended by Ann
Lost and WantedI’ve read all of Nell’s books and she never ceases to amaze me. This is the story of a Harvard physicist who may be getting messages from her dead best friend on her phone…or is it just wishful thinking? An extremely empowering story of women in science.
Want your copy signed? Lost and Wanted is also this month’s First Editions Club pick. When you sign up, you’ll receive a signed copy. (Learn more at the bottom of this post.) And/or: come meet Freudenberger at her event here in the store on Wednesday, April 10, at 6:30!
Recommended by Devin
QueenieMaybe I’m a jerk and do this to make myself feel better, but I have to admit, I love a book about someone my age that doesn’t have their stuff together. Part Eleanor Oliphant and part Americanah (but don’t be mistaken, this 100% stands on its own), Queenie is light and dark, frustrating and hilarious, and a novel I could and will read multiple times.
Recommended by Mary Laura
Look How Happy I’m Making You: Stories The stories in this collection of short fiction explore every facet of motherhood — fertility, pregnancy, the baby-years, the flipside (childlessness), and more — treating the most intimate details of women’s lives with ruthless attention and tender care. If you loved Danielle Lazarin’s Back Talk, this is for you. (Also: this wins for my favorite title of the year thus far.)
Recommended by Sarah
Tiny AmericansMurphy stitches together distinct moments over four decades in the lives of the Thurber family to create a complex and powerful story of family, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Each vignette, told from the perspective of a different family member, vividly captures the unique desires, flaws, and pain they experience amid the dysfunction that continually threatens to keep them apart. It’s quiet, moving, and real.
Recommended by Mary Laura
Beyond the PointI’m always a sucker for a novel about female friendship, and this one’s set at West Point, a place I didn’t know much about before reading. (And in a travel-friendly paperback format? SOLD.)
Recommended by Kathy
The Age of LightA wonderfully sensuous and atmospheric novel set in bohemian Paris between the wars, The Age of Light tells the passionate love story of Vogue model Lee Miller and photographer Man Ray. Things get interesting when Miller steps behind the camera and receives recognition as a photographer herself.
Recommended by Sydney
Trust ExerciseSarah and David attend a competitive performing arts school. They experience a whirlwind romance before their relationship finally falls apart. When the novel takes a sudden turn and visiting students from England disrupt their class, we are forced to question Sarah and David’s relationship — along with the meaning of consent. Perfect for those who also enjoyed The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer.
Recommended by Kathy
Little Faith What would you do if your beloved adult daughter made a dangerous choice for herself and your darling grandson? How much should you intervene to protect them both?
Recommended by Kay
The City in the Middle of the Night Set on a planet where one side always faces the sun and the other is always lost in shadow, this novel does a beautiful job describing the struggle of a colonial human society trying to survive in the narrow band of twilight. There’s much more, however, to this book than a clever setting, as Anders uses her dual protagonists to explore the many ways memory shapes us, both as individuals and as a society.
NONFICTION
Recommended by Ann
I Miss You When I Blink: Essays The relentlessly funny, self-effacing, charming and heartbreaking story of our own triple-A++ perfectionist.
Also recommended by Karen…
Mary Laura has written a memoir in bite-sized essays that is so tuned into the perfection-obsessed world we all live in. With humor and poignancy Mary Laura reveals that even when you seem to have it all — love, family, and challenging work — it doesn’t mean unending happiness. But knowing that you are not alone in feeling this way is part of the joy of reading this book.
And also recommended by Keltie
In the the end, I’m just a girl who really, really loves a book that makes her cry and laugh and cheer and think that she’s not alone in the world. I had that I’ve-been-there-sister moment on every page. I read the manuscript, and had to keep asking myself: Is this book as good as I think it is, or do I think it’s so good because I adore the writer? The verdict is in. It IS as good as I think it is. So there.
Recommended by Ann
Confessions of a Christian Mystic River told me she liked it when I said she and her terrific new book are “peaceful with an edge.” If you’re into the spiritual thing, you’ll love it. If you’re not into the spiritual thing, you’ll still love it.
Also recommended by Karen
River Jordan reveals how the spiritual can appear in everyday life if you are open to it. Her quirky sense of humor is apparent throughout the book, and this light and relatable tone makes Confessions such a pleasure to read.
And also recommended by Keltie
River Jordan can really turn a phrase. Her language is gorgeous: one meditation on prayer left me holding my breath. But she is also a true storyteller in the best Southern tradition. Her book is a rhapsody on the mystery of faith and the elusive Divine told through a very modern lens. (AND there is a wonderful cameo appearance by Donna Summer!) It reads like a remembered song. Loved it.
Recommended by Mary Laura
Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir I devoured every one of Reichl’s previous memoirs, so I knew I’d like this. But I especially loved how, by writing about her years at the helm of Gourmet magazine, she captured a time that’s relatively recent yet feels like a whole other era. (Was it really just over a decade ago when magazines still had whopping travel budgets?)
We hope you’ll join us on Monday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m. for an evening with the bestselling author and former editor-in-chief of Gourmet to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank. Learn more about this special event here.
Recommended by Betsy
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Lori is a psychotherapist practicing in California. When a relationship that she thought would lead to marriage ends suddenly, she finds herself in therapy. Told in alternating chapters between her clients’ narratives and her own, Lori’s memoir explores the humor and humanity behind a therapeutic relationship. I’m grabbing two copies — one for me and one for my therapist.
Recommended by Keltie
The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Loss, Courage and a Girl Saved by Bees You will never look at bees the same way. A combination of my two favorite subsets of memoir: a hardscrabble childhood with an unexpected hero (My Beloved Country, Educated, The Great Santini) and a person who finds herself through a relationship with animals (The Soul of an Octopus, H is for Hawk, Spineless). This is the story of a lost girl, her step-grandfather, and the beauty and order she learns from his bees.
Recommended by Keltie
Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves At Parnassus, we KNOW animals have emotions — the shop dogs are not shy about expressing theirs. Punctuated by poignant stories, this book explores the emotional life of animals through science. In the opening scene, Mama, a chimpanzee, is on her deathbed. Then a friend she hasn’t seen in years arrives. Slowly, she recognizes the man and uses her remaining strength to rise and hug his neck a last time. I cried.
Recommended by Betsy
Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others In her previous memoir Leaving Church, Barbara Brown Taylor navigated a shift from Episcopal priest to university professor. Holy Envy is her in the classroom, facilitating space for students to explore world religions. She reflects on the joys and complexities that emerge when a tradition different from one’s own becomes sacred. If Krista Tippett and Mary Oliver are for you, this for you, too.
Recommended by Lauren
Why We Dream: The Transformative Power of Our Nightly Journey I can’t guarantee that you’ll have a lucid dream after reading this, but that’s exactly what happened to me. Dreaming, as it turns out, is far more essential to waking life than I imagined. Though I haven’t yet mastered communicating with the outside world from dreamland like these scientists, I’ve been talking about them at dinner parties since this came out last November. Read it now for sweet dreams later.
Recommended by Keltie
The Home Edit: A Guide to Organizing and Realizing Your House Goals By Clea Shearer, Joanna Teplin
Less mystical than Marie Kondo, less fussy than Martha Stewart, this is the working girl’s pragmatic guide to getting that s%*& cleaned out and organized. It is a virtual “Organizing for Dummies” written by your two best girlfriends. Plus, it’s gorgeous. I may never have a “ballroom closet,” but I’ll know how to organize it if I do. (And the book includes your very own set of refrigerator stickers. I’m in love.)
Recommended by Cat
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle By Emily Nagoski, Amelia Nagoski
We all get stressed, but most of us don’t know how to manage our stress in a healthy way and end up experiencing what Emily and Amelia call “burnout.” If you are a woman at any stage of life, you need this book. It’s wonderfully conversational and also full of applicable and eye-opening solutions.
Recommended by Keltie
An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago In the summer of 2013, 172 people were killed and 793 were wounded by gunfire in Chicago. Only one in four of these murders will be solved; only 10% of the remaining shooters will be caught. In short, you have a good chance of getting away with murder in Chicago. This is not a policy book. It is the stories of the killed and the killers during one season in one city. There are no answers here, but there is humanity.
Recommended by Steve
Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do Jennifer L. Eberhardt is an academic, but Biased is clear and jargon-free. And her calm, rational assessments — always backed up by research — cast an unmistakable light on the power and problematic nature of implicit racial bias. Biased is an urgent, timely, important read, and Eberhardt writes with heart as well as brains. It’s a rigorous systemic analysis told at a compassionate, human scale.
Recommended by Sissy
Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974 By Kevin M. Kruse, Julian E. Zelizer
Kevin is a Nashville native and a history professor at Princeton. He also happens to be the king of historical smackdowns on Twitter. A fabulous communicator, he expertly outlines the historical trends that brought us to our present shaky political landscape.
Recommended by Andy
The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III: The Memoir of Jens Müller Jens Müller was one of only three men to successfully escape from Stalag Luft III in March 1944 — the break that later became the basis for the famous film, The Great Escape. In this vivid, informative memoir, Muller details what life in the camp was like, how the escapes were planned and executed, and the story of his personal breakout and success reaching RAF Leuchars in Scotland.
Recommended by Andy
Let’s Play Two: The Legend of Mr. Cub, the Life of Ernie Banks Well-researched by award-winning sports writer Ron Rapoport, this is a fascinating look at the private and public life of Ernie Banks. Perfect for the start of the baseball season.
Recommended by Andy
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland The New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe uses the abduction of Jean McConville by IRA militants to tell the larger story of the bitter conflict that consumed Northern Ireland. Say Nothing is a gripping narrative that is essential to understanding this period of Irish history.
POETRY
Recommended by Steve
Deaf Republic: Poems This is a book of poems that reads like a novella — without losing the surface tension that gives poetry its power. Set in a country beset by an authoritarian regime, Deaf Republic considers the power of silence against interrogation, the power of story within silence, the power of love in the face of atrocity. Devastating.
First Editions Club: April SelectionLost and Wanted
I’ve been a fan and faithful reader of Nell Freudenberger since her debut collection of stories, Lucky Girls, came out in 2003, so I was thrilled that we were able to pick her new novel, Lost and Wanted, for our First Editions Club. It’s the story of Helen Clapp, a physicist at MIT who’s doing groundbreaking work on five-dimensional spacetime, and her old Harvard roommate, Charlotte Boyce, a writer and actress. It’s a novel that wrestles with what the rational mind knows and what the heart wants to believe. It’s also a lot about science, and about women in science, which is one of the many reasons to love it.
As soon as I read it, I sent a copy to my husband’s cousin, a physicist who spent his professional life working at the Sandia National Laboratory. He not only found the book enthralling, he said the science was impeccable. I then sent a copy to the novelist Richard Powers, who told me years ago that more people should be writing fiction about science. He loved the book as much as I did. In fact, everyone I’ve given this book to has loved it: it’s full of intellectual curiosity and tenderness, and it’s beautifully written to boot. Nell compliments us by assuming the reader is as smart as the heroine, and, by doing so, she makes us smarter. It is a terrific novel in every way, and we’re very proud to be able to put it in your hands.
Happy reading!
Ann Patchett
More about our First Editions Club: Every member receives a first edition of the selected book of the month, signed by the author. Books are carefully chosen by our staff of readers, and our picks have gone on to earn major recognition including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Plus, there’s no membership fee or premium charge for these books. Build a treasured library of signed first editions and always have something great to read! Makes a FABULOUS gift, too.
Parnassus Book Club — Upcoming Meeting Schedule
April – The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
Monday, April 8 at 6:30pm
Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30pm*
Thursday, April 11 at 10am
*Date change for this month
May – The Only Story by Julian Barnes
Monday, May 13 at 6:30pm
Wednesday, May 15 at 6:30pm
Thursday, May 16 at 10am
Classics Club – Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Gray
Monday, May 20 at 10am and 6:30pm
Are you a member of our store book club? Would you like to be? Parnassus Book Club and Classics Club meetings are free and open to anyone. Buy the book, read along, and join the discussion!
“It’s all about the book.” More thoughts on reading from Kathy Schultenover, Parnassus Book Clubs Manager:
My favorite author question from the Shelf Awareness “By the Book” column is “Which book did you hide from your parents?” Many authors reveal that their parents didn’t pay much attention to what they read growing up. Such was the case in my home. My mother had four kids and a job, and my father worked 12-hour days. They were just happy to have a voracious reader in me, and they ignored my book choices.
Nevertheless, I knew that they would probably not be too happy to see Peyton Place in my possession. By the time I got to high school, this book had been out for years. The movie and TV show were must-see, shocking viewing. I didn’t care that the book’s recurring themes were “hypocrisy, social inequities, and class privilege,” or “three women coming to terms with their identity as sexual beings in a small town.” I cared about its shocking content of lust, incest, adultery, and murder. I managed to read Peyton Place late at night or on days when my parents were at work. In later years, my mother laughed when I told her about it. Turns out, she wanted to read it too, but never did.
Peyton Place sold 60,000 copies within its first 10 days of release in 1956 and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for more than a year. It has remained in the public consciousness for more than 60 years, even coining the term “Peyton Place” as an allusion to any small town or group that holds scandalous secrets. It’s still in print, now with an interesting introduction that examines the novel’s treatment of class, gender, race, and power, and that considers its influential place in American literary history. What about considering this as a classic choice for your book club? In 2019, it’s one you won’t have to hide from anyone.
Kathy Schultenover
Parnassus Book Clubs Manager
Is your club part of our book club registry? Local book groups can order and purchase their club’s reading selections at a discount! Your club’s chosen titles are also displayed in the store on the book club shelf with the club’s name, so members can come in and find their selections easily. Registered clubs also receive notices of special book-club-related author events and seminars. To register a club, simply stop by the store and fill out a short form at the counter.
April 4, 2019
Eight Reads We Love for Tots and Teens
Who doesn’t love a good book about friendship? This month, grab a pal and swing by the store to pick up one of our latest friendship-inspired books, perfect for the tiniest reader in your life. Plus, we’ve got four new YA reads so good you won’t be able to keep them to yourselves. Have a look:
PICTURE BOOKS
Recommended by Chelsea
The Bear, the Piano, the Dog, and the Fiddle A beautifully illustrated story about a music-loving dog and his owner. The message of true friendship and relishing joy over jealousy is important for readers of all ages.
Recommended by Rae Ann
Good Night Owl By Greg Pizzoli, Greg Pizzoli (Illustrator)
One of my favorite picture books is now available in a board book! A friendship story with a twist.
Recommended by Steph
Poetree By Shauna LaVoy Reynolds, Shahrzad Maydani (Illustrator)
April is National Poetry Month, and what better way to celebrate than by sharing this sweet, beautiful picture book with a young reader! Poetree is a pitch-perfect tale about finding friendship — and poetry — where you least expect it.
YOUNG ADULT
Recommended by Rae Ann
White RoseWhite Rose is based on the true story of teenager Sophie Scholl and the White Rose resistance group in World War II Germany. The story is told masterfully in verse by debut author Kip Wilson.
Recommended by Devin
Internment While the novel is purely speculative, Samira Ahmed takes the rhetoric floated by politicians today and sets her book in a dystopian near future. It’s a look at what happens when fearsome language gives way to violent actions, but most importantly, it’s about the ones who refuse to fold and choose resistance instead.
Recommended by Steph
Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee I’m so happy that Nashville author Jeff Zentner has finally written a laugh-out-loud comedy — and not just because I didn’t want to ugly-cry again (I’M STILL SAD ABOUT TRAVIS, JEFFREY). Do not read this book in public unless you don’t mind complete strangers asking you, “What’s so funny?”
Recommended by Steph
We Set the Dark on FireIf you crossed the feminist dystopia of Margaret Atwood with the lush and lyrical prose of Anna Marie McLemore, you might end up with something like We Set the Dark on Fire, a stunningly accomplished debut that kept me turning pages way past my bedtime.
ParnassusNext — Our April Selection
Emily Duncan’s debut novel, Wicked Saints, is a thrilling fantasy (perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo) and one of 2019’s most highly anticipated debut novels. Check out some of the early buzz below, and if you’re in Nashville, be sure to mark your calendar for April 5, when Emily will be stopping by Parnassus to share and sign her book alongside Christine Lynn Herman, author of The Devouring Gray.
“Full of blood and monsters and magic — this book destroyed me and I adored it. Emily is a wicked storyteller; she’s not afraid to hurt her characters or her readers. If you’ve ever fallen in love with a villain you will fall hard for this book.” —Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of Caraval
“Prepare for a snow frosted, blood drenched fairy tale where the monsters steal your heart and love ends up being the nightmare. Utterly absorbing.” —Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Gilded Wolves
“This is the novel . . . that I’ve been waiting for all my life. It’s got a world at once brutal and beautiful, filled with characters who are wounded, lovable, and ferocious enough to break your heart. A shattering, utterly satisfying read.” —Rosamund Hodge, author of Cruel Beauty
Emily will be at Parnassus on Friday, April 5, at 6:30pm! Click here for details.
ParnassusNext is the book subscription box for YA lovers. Every member of ParnassusNext receives a first edition hardcover of each month’s selected book, signed by the author. There is no membership fee to join — and no line to stand in for the autograph. Not only will you have one of the best YA books of the month when it comes out, you’ll have it straight from the author’s hands, with an original, authentic signature! Set up a subscription for yourself or buy a gift membership for your favorite YA reader for 3, 6, or 12 months..
Looking for play date ideas? Bring a friend or make a friend at storytime each Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and Thursday at 4 p.m.!
And don’t miss these special events for young readers coming up soon. All events are here at the bookstore unless otherwise noted:
Hannah Carmona Dias, author of Dazzling Travis: A Story About Being Confident & Original — April 6, 2 p.m.
Kerry Madden-Lunsford, author of Ernestine’s Milky Way — April 14, 2 p.m.
Salon@615 with Kwame Alexander, author of The Undefeated — April 23, 6:15 p.m. Click here to reserve your free tickets. (This event will be held at Collins Alumni Auditorium.)
Ann Patchett and Robin Preiss Glasser, author/illustrator of Lambslide — May 6, 4:30 p.m.
April 2, 2019
Making Their Debut: Four Writers On Their First Novels
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There’s something special about bearing witness to a writer’s first novel. As Ayana Mathis once wrote, “A debut novel is a piece of the writer’s soul in a way that subsequent books can’t ever quite be.” This spring offers a wide variety of debuts, and we’ve picked four to spotlight here. What drew these writers to their subjects, and what pieces of their souls will you find in their pages? We asked these women — Etaf Rum, Candice Carty-Williams, Claire Gibson, and Belle Boggs — to tell us about their first full-length works of fiction, now available on our shelves. In their own words, here they are:
A Woman Is No Man
The story at the heart of my debut novel, A Woman Is No Man, is told in alternating chapters between three generations of Palestinian-American women living in Brooklyn, New York. The novel follows Isra, a newlywed who hoped life would be different when she immigrated to America from Palestine, and her eldest daughter Deya, who tries to do what her mother ultimately couldn’t: break free from their family’s cycle of misogyny and forge a path of her own. While the clash between dual cultures is at the center of the narrative, the novel is also a love letter to books and a reminder of the transformative power of reading. Books were one of the only comforts that both Isra and Deya enjoyed, and it is through the strength found in books that Deya is finally able to understand the patriarchal structures designed to keep women in “their place,” rewrite the narrative of her own life, and, ultimately, break free. —Etaf Rum
Queenie
As an introvert who has always lost herself in books, from a young age, trying to find myself in them was…well, let’s say it was a fool’s errand. There was never a lead (and rarely a sidekick) who was black, straddling two cultures, sexualized, and with black features. The leading ladies were often blonde-haired, blue-eyed, slim, and desired for marriage by all. I had no access point to this woman, and if I had no access point and she was definitely not on the same romantic or cultural journey as me, how on earth was I going to know how to go through my life? So I had to write her. I’m still not certain how to navigate my life, but I’m hoping that after reading Queenie, girls like me will, and that girls not like me can have a greater understanding of what life can be through a different lens, exactly like I had to when I was growing up. —Candice Carty-Williams
Beyond the Point
My debut novel, Beyond the Point, is kind of like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants meets Zero Dark Thirty. The novel is based on true stories gleaned from more than 100 hours of interviews with of women graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point — women I knew while growing up at the Academy, while my father was a professor. The plot follows three very different characters: Dani, Hannah, and Avery, as they forge an unlikely bond at West Point, and then struggle to maintain that friendship across war, marriage, career changes, and life in their twenties. It was important for me to write this story because even though many of these women went on to work with Presidents and Generals in the line of duty, I felt that their greatest feat was not their military achievements, but their loyalty to female friendship. —Claire Gibson (Note: Gibson lives in Nashville and will celebrate her book launch at Parnassus, in conversation with Liza Graves of Style Blueprint on Wednesday, April 3, at 6:30 p.m.)
The Gulf
We all joke about crazy business ideas that would make a fortune if someone went to the trouble of bringing them to life. We just don’t want to be the person who actually does it. One question that inspired The Gulf was: What if someone offered to pay you to bring one of those joke businesses to life and you said yes? Marianne, my protagonist, is a poet and an atheist who winds up doing just that — creating the Florida-based, fly-by-night low-residency creative writing program for Christian writers she’d joked with her then-fiancé about starting years before. By the time students discover the founders’ disingenuous intentions, the Genesis Inspirational Writing Ranch is already off and running, with an inaugural class that includes an out-of-shape former R&B superstar working on an autobiographical novel and a home economics teacher writing poetry about the late Terri Schiavo. As the Ranch attracts applicants, shadowy investors, shady politicians, and trouble, Marianne must ride out the storm, in more ways than one. —Belle Boggs
Isn’t it just like spring to bring us so many fresh delights? Stop by the store sometime, and come have a look at all that’s new.
March 26, 2019
Notes from Ann: I Miss You When I Blink — An Interview with Mary Laura Philpott
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Mary Laura Philpott is not only the creator of Musing, she’s the person who conducts most of the author interviews we feature on the site. So what happens when the soon-to-be-best-selling-essayist (that’s a lot of dashes) has a book of her own? We figured it would be a little awkward for her to interview herself.
That’s where I come in. It’s about time I had a job around here anyway. Mary Laura can answer some questions for a change. I hope you’ll join us for more conversation when we celebrate the launch of her new collection, I Miss You When I Blink, on Monday, April 1, at 6:30 p.m. Until then, here’s a preview.
— Ann
Ann Patchett: Please map out the progression from a book of cartoon penguins to a deeply felt book of essays about being an A+ perfectionist trying to grab hold of her life.
[image error]Mary Laura Philpott: Penguins with People Problems is what happened when my crazy hobby became a book. I Miss You When I Blink is what happened when my life’s obsessions became a book. They grew up in different neighborhoods of my brain.
Timing-wise, I Miss You When I Blink grew out of work I’d been doing for years — writing memoir-ish essays — and the penguins popped up along the way as a fun diversion. I sat down to start writing the first new pieces of what would become this book in 2015, right after Penguins came out. Actually, I wrote a very rough draft of the essay called “I’m Sorry, Mindy Kaling” in my New York hotel while I was out promoting Penguins.
AP: Which makes this a good time to ask: what are your life’s obsessions?
MLP: I’m a bit obsessed with the difference between being alone and being lonely. I have felt my loneliest in a crowded room; and I’ve been at my least lonely sometimes when I’m by myself. I love reading and writing about how people reconcile their individual identities with who they are as part of their families and communities. And I love exploring the private rules, bargains, and jokes we make with ourselves inside our own heads — that we think no one else knows about, but then when we talk about them, we realize everyone has.
Time is a biggie, too. One of the hallmarks of my type-A nature is a fixation on getting things done right and on time. Sensing a ticking clock in everything you do helps when you’re taking a test or completing an assignment. But when you’re living — building a career, growing a family, creating art, whatever — being hyper-aware of time can also create anxiety, because the older you get, the more you’re aware of how much time you do (and don’t) have left.
I’m fascinated by how we perceive the passage of time differently at various phases of life. Years don’t feel the same length when you’re 44 as they do when you’re 24 or 14. (I remember talking with both you and George Saunders about this.) How can it be that 30-year-old me, who definitely did exist, does not exist now? Right-now-me grew from 30-year-old me, but she’s gone. She’s over. Gah! It seems like we could solve so much of our existential angst if we could just figure out how to build a time machine and visit different points in our lives instead of being stuck in this linear progression of time. Wouldn’t that be cool?
AP: Well, now I want to apologize for that hourglass I gave you when you were first starting this book. What a load of pressure that must have been to watch the sand slipping away!
[image error]MLP: Never apologize for that hourglass! I love that hourglass. And it has extra magic because before you passed it to me, Elizabeth Alexander passed it to you. (If anyone reading this has not read The Light of the World, please remedy that now.) So when I watch the blue sand trickling through the glass, not only is it mesmerizing, but I feel like you’re both there telling me to stop wasting time on Twitter and concentrate. Like a more literary and breakable version of the pants in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
AP: One of the (many) wonderful things about writing is that you can file pieces of yourself on the page and so you really can go back and visit yourself again, which brings me to my next question: the essays in Happy Marriage came out one at a time and I never had any hesitations about people reading them, but when I gathered them all together I felt hugely exposed. I spent a long time thinking I couldn’t publish that book. Did you find the whole more terrifying than the sum of its parts?
MLP: I agree 100%. Publishing one essay at a time feels far less vulnerable than publishing a bunch at once. It’s like rolling up a sleeve to show an arm, and then lifting up a hem to show an ankle… but if you show all your parts at once, you’re naked. I struggled with that more last year as I was polishing the final draft than I do now. I think the long timespan between when a book is finished and when it actually lands on shelves plays a tremendously important part in a writer’s psychological health. Booksellers and other early readers have been reading it, and I don’t feel all that exposed anymore.
I did get surprisingly emotional a few months ago, the night before the cover was revealed online for the first time, and I know those tears weren’t about the cover (I love the cover!). It was just hitting me that night that I had to let the book go out into the world where anything could happen to it. I want it to go out there and find its people and be received thoughtfully, and I know I can’t control any of that.
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AP: I agree. Time heals the nervousness, plus at some point you say, okay, I’m doing this, and then it all settles down. Do you have a favorite essay? An essay you’d save first if the book was on fire? I also wonder how you feel about people grazing around, reading an essay from the middle then an essay from the end. It completely freaks me out when people tell me they’re reading around in my essay book. I put a lot of thought into the order, people! You’re supposed to start at the beginning. Maybe that’s just me being a novelist.
MLP: Amen. You get so much more out of any collection — essays, poems, songs on a mixtape — when you go in order. The arrangement of Happy Marriage is a perfect example of that! And the essays in I Miss You When I Blink function a bit like chapters in a memoir, in that there’s a narrative arc to the whole thing. You could read any one of them on its own and it would make sense, but they’re arranged to tell a bigger story. (My editor and I debated calling it a memoir instead of an essay collection. Ultimately we went with “Essays” for the subtitle on the cover, but the inside flap calls it a “memoir in essays.” In the Australian and UK editions, they took “Essays” off the cover and are calling it a memoir. So I guess either works!)
If I had to save two in a fire — which I could do because they’re short, so I could put one in each hand — I might save the title essay and the one called “A Letter to the Type A Person in Distress.” But I’d rather prevent the fire in the first place.
AP: Two excellent choices. If I could save two, I think I would go for “Mermaids and Destiny” and “Diane von Furstenberg’s Apartment,” but it’s important to note that the punch of “Diane von Furstenberg’s Apartment” lies in the build up that comes from reading the whole book in order. You have to earn it.
I feel like this book is so tightly bound to the bookstore, and to your understanding that readers needed a book about a life crisis that didn’t result in hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Most of us just have our life crisis in the privacy of our home, and we’re sorely underrepresented in literature. In return for your seeing that and writing the book that will fill the giant hole in the shelves of bookstores everywhere, you’re receiving a tidal wave of bookseller love. I Miss You When I Blink has been named the number one Indie Next pick for April, which is a HUGE honor voted on by booksellers everywhere. It’s like they’re all shouting, “Thank you, Mary Laura! We love you and we love this book and we’re going to sell it to everyone!”
MLP: Oh holy moly, I’m shouting THANK YOU right back. (Actually, I’m saying it at a respectable volume so as not to disturb fellow readers, but I’m also quietly jumping up and down and waving my hands around with extreme enthusiasm.) My editor sent me a document with the notes booksellers sent in after reading early copies of the book, and I’m still speechless. The ways in which people responded to the book are so personal. I don’t think I’ve fully processed them all yet.
If there’s something I could tell other writers to make the publication process seem a little less scary, it would be this: As you slingshot your book out into the world, it’s being caught by booksellers who take great joy in putting the right book into every person’s hands. Knowing that kept me going during the times when I thought I could never finish this thing. Bookstores take care of readers, and they take care of books, and as both a reader and a writer I couldn’t be more grateful.
***
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Join author Mary Laura Philpott, in conversation with Ann Patchett
as we celebrate the publication of I Miss You When I Blink
Monday, April 1, 2019
6:30 p.m. at Parnassus Books
This event is open to the public and free to attend!
March 20, 2019
The Holy Ground of Story: A Conversation Between Silas House and River Jordan
River Jordan is one of those people who decides to love you and then she just does. Ever since I first met her about fifteen years ago, I’ve always felt folded up in the calming light she possesses, and I don’t think it’s ever been on better display than in her new upcoming book, Confessions of a Christian Mystic.
The book is so wonderful because it is so much like River: down-home, keenly intelligent, funny, lyrical, and deeply honest. It’s a book that stays with you, so I was very happy to talk more about it with her for Parnassus in advance of her event at the store on March 29. Here’s our conversation.
– Silas House, author of Southernmost
Silas House: You very clearly define your notion of what it means to be a mystic this way: “Someone who desires to live and breathe and move in the presence of the divine.” I love that you lay that out so plainly for us to see. Would you say this book is a way for you to encourage others to take up this way of being?
[image error]River Jordan: I think it’s a great way for me to remind myself how to be. As in, remembering to breathe, to contemplate, to be divinely connected while watching a movie or riding a bike or grocery shopping. So that in essence the everyday mundane details become a part of this big, mystical, wild adventure of a heartbeat that is our lives.
SH: In the book you talk about how the word “Christian” is so loaded these days. Some people hear us identify that way and they instantly assume they know everything we believe. Many of us are constantly being forced to say, “I’m not that kind of Christian” because of particular groups co-opting the word. What do you say to the people who might hesitate reaching for this book because of that word in the title?
RJ: The first thing I’d say is, I understand. I’d be hard-pressed to reach for a book with “Christian” in the title because I’d think, a) I’ve already read whatever it has to say, or b) I don’t want to read it because I have preconceived notions of how it’s going to preach something to me.
My hope is that the words “Confessions” and “Mystic” also being a part of the title will create a unique combination of words. I hope people will at least pick it up to peruse, discover it is a fusion of faith and fiction and essay and fall in love with the strange little genre-buster that it is. I’ve had passing conversations with writers such as David Dark and Rick Bragg, who both loved the title. I respect both of them so very much that when they gave wonderful nods of approval I felt I was on the right track.
In the bigger picture, it occurs to me that many of us are not talking about our faith very much. We’re talking about great stories and music, fiction and movies, and where the greatest new Thai restaurant is; but apparently the conversation that features the Christian faith as we know it to be true is not part of our cultural mainstream. If it were, we wouldn’t cringe at the word or have need to defend it. There is room for a great conversation to be had right now regarding who Christians really are. If I could do one thing with this book that would make me extremely happy it would be to eradicate the need for Christians to have to say, “I’m not that kind of Christian.”
SH: I love the moment where, as a child, you realize that “the dominion of God was wider than the tangible skies.” One of the things I take from your book is that you believe the mind of God is too big for us to understand, so we just have to do the best we can. Would you agree with that?
RJ: I completely agree. You’re referencing the story where I was five and my house burned down on Christmas day and so as a result my mother and I were flying to Germany to live with my Army Daddy. I completely expected to see Heaven and God’s throne right out there off the wing somewhere. I had one of the greatest epiphanies of my life right then and there at the ripe old age of five. I realized I couldn’t just put God in a box of my expectations. We keep doing our best on some days and our worst on others and God keeps meeting us right where we are. That’s one of the magnificent, mystical things right there.
SH: One of the things I love most about this book is its lack of judgment. I’m never feeling preached to, or taught, yet I’m learning throughout. Is it challenging to avoid that kind of writing in a book like this, or do you think that’s just how you naturally talk about these profound issues?
RJ: You learned something? Share with me over a good beer sometime what you learned and maybe I’ll learn it, too. That sure was unintentional. As for judgment: I was raised (and still am) Episcopalian. Maybe that contributed to my not being judgmental of others. Or maybe it’s because I’m always such a mess, so far from perfect, that for me to even think of being judgmental is ridiculous.
[image error] Confessions of a Christian Mystic is officially published on April 2, but launches with a sneak preview at Parnassus Books on March 29!
SH: I love the concept of the Steering Wheel Prayer, or the “SWP,” that you’ve come up with in this book. I’m going to be using that. Can you share that with our readers here?
RJ: In the book I describe what I consider the power of the Steering Wheel Prayer. It’s when you have reached the bottom of your rope, don’t know how to hang on anymore, and put your head on the steering wheel because you are down to your last dime or ounce of energy and you just don’t know how to go on. And in that moment, God shows up. That’s happened to me twice in dramatic ways where I had truly reached the end of my rope and didn’t know where to turn or how to go on. And something amazing happened each time. I also share a story about a rascal of a marketing guru who drops F-bombs like nobody’s business and I adore her writing. She writes about an end of the rope moment she had where she put her head on the steering wheel and said a prayer. She said an angel didn’t show up but she got this great idea immediately that got her out of a world of homeless trouble. Actually, I think that was the answer to her prayer.
But yeah, now people think of it as the old SWP. The only time I think I’ve actually seen an angel was an immediate result of an SWP. But the story’s not in the book. I promise to tell it at the book launch party.
SH: “In the quiet place, we find ourselves. And we find God,” you write, emphasizing the importance of retreats for one’s self. You write about the way books, films, and music have revealed divine moments to you, too, because they allow us to go still via contemplation. Can you talk about how consuming art can be a kind of retreat, too?
RJ: I’m fascinated with the act of creation, of the idea of artists partnering with the Divine muse to bring us all great works of art like Star Trek and The Maltese Falcon. I say that as a fan of both of those just because I think art is holy and we don’t have to put some kind of sticker on it like, “This is holy art because it is religious and all other art falls in this other category.” When we enter into the gates of sitting with a great book, put in our ear-pods to listen to our latest favorite song (mine happens to be “Ring the Bells” by Johnnyswim) or buy that ticket to catch a movie, we are entering the holy ground of story.
Is that a time out? You bet. A respite for weary souls. All of these incredible creations from all genres and art forms are expressing our passions and purposes in this thing we call space and time. Great art breaks us open and fills us up. It reminds us to be fully alive all the moments of our lives, not just moving mechanically through our days. And it whispers to remember that we are not alone, not alone, not alone. That someone large, ancient, and full of love watches and weeps with us. And that we are in this eternal story called being human together. It’s better when we hold hands to cross the mountain.
[image error]Silas House is the author of five novels, including, most recently, Southernmost. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times and a former commentator for NPR’s All Things Considered. House is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and is the winner of the E. B. White Award, the Nautilus Award, the Appalachian Book of the Year, the Hobson Medal for Literature, and other honors.
***
Join us for a launch party to celebrate River Jordan
Author of Confessions of a Christian Mystic
Friday, March 29, 2019
6:30 p.m. at Parnassus Books
This event is open to the public and free to attend!
March 14, 2019
Notes from Ann: Event Season
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I don’t know that April is still the cruelest month. I’m sure it was in England in 1922 when T.S. Eliot wrote “The Waste Land.” When you take global warming into account, along with the fact we live in Nashville, I’d say March is now the cruelest month, and really, it may even be February. April, however, is the busiest month, although that makes for a lousy poem:
April is the busiest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Anyway.
My novel is finished and my heart is open and so I volunteered to be helpful. I haven’t been helpful in a very long time. I would now like to review the month based on my responsibilities as an interlocutor and/or a supportive and enthusiastic friend. For purposes of this report, I’m starting April at the end of March and taking it through the first day of May. I would also like to say that this blog post in no way reflects our actual events calendar. This is a mere fraction of what’s actually going on this spring. To see the whole Megillah, keep an eye on our calendar (here). All these events are here at the bookstore unless otherwise noted:
[image error]March 29, 6:30 p.m., River Jordan, Confessions of a Christian Mystic — Never was there someone so aptly named. River is a deep and steady presence at Parnassus, where she sells books when she isn’t off writing them and giving talks and being generally inspiring to all. River is peaceful with an edge, and so is her terrific new book, Confessions of a Christian Mystic. The quote on the cover sums it up perfectly, calling River the South’s Anne Lamott. And be on the lookout for her fantastic upcoming interview here on Musing with another Parnassus favorite, Silas House, talking about faith and the South and how to make it through these days of turmoil. Because River is one of our own, and because I want to hear whatever she has to say, I’m looking forward to this one as the kickoff to the busy events season.
[image error]April 1, 6:30 p.m., Mary Laura Philpott, I Miss You When I Blink — I saw Mary Laura recently and asked her what I could do to be helpful around her publication. She looked at me like she couldn’t imagine how anyone could help her at this point. So I asked if she wanted me to interview her, and she said, “Yes! That!” You might know Mary Laura as the woman who draws penguins, but she’s also the creator of Musing, the very online literary magazine you are reading right this minute, and the host of WNPT’s A Word on Words. But starting in April she is going to become a phenomenon. Her book of essays, I Miss You When I Blink, is going to catapult her to stardom. I imagine this in-store conversation will be the last we’ll be seeing of Mary Laura for awhile, so come say goodbye and good luck.
[image error]April 4, 6:30 p.m., Harlan Coben, Run Away — This one was unexpected. Harlan Coben’s publisher wanted me to interview him but that seemed impossible. He’s written so many books (I counted thirty-two) that there was no chance of mastering the backlist. But he has the reputation of being a very good guy, smart and funny, and I love anyone who’s sold over seventy million copies worldwide and still wants to come to an indie bookstore to meet his fans. There’s also the fact that I dated not one but two of his classmates at Amherst when I was in my twenties. He also has a dog who looks a lot like Sparky. I figure Harlan Coben and I have things to talk about. I read his new book Run Away straight through without moving. It’s RIVETING.
[image error]April 10, 6:30 p.m., Nell Freudenberger, Lost and Wanted — I’ve never met Nell but I’ve been a fan of hers going back to her first collection of short stories, Lucky Girls, published in 2003. I wrote a blurb for her 2012 novel, The Newlyweds, and got a thank you note from her a week later saying she was so sorry for her late reply but she was in the hospital giving birth to her son when my blurb came in and her husband read it to her while she was having the baby. It’s the kind of anecdote that sticks with you. I was so excited about her new novel, Lost and Wanted, that I got extra galleys to send to friends. From there, Nell and I started exchanging emails. In a recent email, she asked if I would be in conversation with her at the store, and since she’s staying at my house, it seemed the only reasonable answer was yes. Please note — if you or anyone you know is interested in the sciences, you will love this event. If you’re interested in a completely engaging novel in which the main character is a brilliant physicist, look no further. There is real role model material here.
[image error]April 22, 6:30 p.m., Ruth Reichl, Save Me the Plums — When Ruth got the editor job at Gourmet, she called and asked me to write a piece for her first issue, and I continued to write for the magazine for as long as she was there. It was hands down the most joyful freelance job of my life. Everyone who worked for Gourmet during the Reichl administration loved it, and we all loved her. Her new book, Save Me the Plums, is a tell-all recounting of the Gourmet years, both the thrill of running a great, creative magazine with a wonderful team, and the corporate power structure that loomed over everything. The book is also the next chapter in Ruth’s brilliant string of memoirs Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me With Apples, and Garlic and Sapphires. So if you love Ruth’s books, you miss the old Gourmet, or you just love Ruth (put me down for all three), you’ll want to hear our conversation about the good old days.
[image error]April 28, 4:30 p.m. at the PARTHENON (!!!) — Mary Norris, Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen — Mary Norris is the copy editor for The New Yorker, and I loved her first book Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen. Her event for that book was both brilliant and hilarious, and I wound up wishing that everyone I knew had been there to hear her talk about grammar. In her new book Greek to Me she decides to learn ancient Greek for fun, and spends every minute of her vacation time exploring Greece. Please, if you know anyone interested in studying languages, or anyone interested in a self-improvement program that doesn’t involve sit-ups, come to this event. It’s going to be so much fun to be at the Parthenon. I just got an email from Mary asking if I would be in conversation with her. I told her she didn’t need me, and she said, yes, in fact, she did. I don’t understand this but I’ll be there.
[image error]April 30, 6:30 p.m., Helen Ellis, Southern Lady Code — Mary Laura’s got this one, and she’s swinging back through Nashville from her book tour to do it. Helen and Mary Laura will be a perfect match. Helen is a friend of mine, and her book of essays Southern Lady Code is hysterically funny and will resonant profoundly with all of us. If you’re wondering who I mean by “us,” I mean you (used as a plural pronoun) and me. You will be buying this book for everyone in your life who could use a good laugh and a little instruction on what it means to be a Southern lady.
[image error]May 1, 6:15 p.m. at TPAC’s Polk Theater, Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World — This is a little bit like being asked to interview Reese Witherspoon. Who’s going to say no to the chance to talk to Melinda Gates, especially when her new book is called The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World? This book amazed me. Melinda Gates is not sitting home writing checks. She is going to some of the most challenging places in the world to listen to women who struggle with poverty help them solve their problems on their own terms. The book is clear, informative, and filled with compassion. Bring your friends, your book club, your church, your daughters, and see how we can make a difference in the world.
I’m looking forward to all of them. This list constitutes a true embarrassment of riches, which is what we specialize in at Parnassus. Well, that and dogs. Sparky will be at all in-store events. We hope to see you there.
— Ann
Speaking of spring and upcoming events: Lambslide, Ann Patchett’s new picture book with illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser, comes out on May 7, and we’ll be hosting Ann and Robin in conversation here at the store on May 6. More on that soon. Meanwhile, you can pre-order your copy here!
Oh, and pre-orders for Ann’s new novel, The Dutch House (Sept. 2019) are open now as well!
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