These Precious Days: Essays

by Ann Patchett

I’m sorry I made my students back in Iowa read Madame Bovary. I love Madame Bovary, but these were not literature majors. They were kids who may have had one shot in college to feel thrilled and engaged by reading, and I’m fairly certain I blew it for them. At the time, I thought that Madame Bovary was the essence of a liberal arts education, but the essence of a liberal arts education is the ability to be flexible and curious, to be able to teach Othello and then write for Bridal Guide, to publish several novels and open a bookstore, to promote the work of living writers, to evolve. I once believed that nothing could surpass winning a big literary award, but I was mistaken. The thing that’s been so much better has been to create jobs in my community, to be part of the Parnassus Foundation, which buys books for children who can’t afford books so that they can know the thrill of owning the book they love, to find as many ways as possible for literature to make a difference in the lives of as many people as possible.