Jan Priddy’s Reviews > These Precious Days > Status Update

I left this book in another city and I am aching to get back to it!

About not having children... for most of my childhood I did not want children. I was colossally incapable as a babysitter, thought all babies looked alike, and were ugly and boring. I did change my mind.

Ursula K. Le Guin's husband was the partner Patchett theorizes. He worked in academia, came home for dinner, and then cared for the the children till they went to bed while Ursula wrote. That's how she did it.

Knitting and a best friend from childhood—yes, however she might deny it, both choosing good fortune and receiving it.

Nonfiction writers toss around names for essay structures, and so I'm certain there is one for Patchett's "Flight Plan." She writes about her husband's piloting (beginning at age 8!), his planes, notable accomplishments in the public imagination about flight, and her fear of his death which only beats her when she is not flying with him. I felt that way when my husband was driving the crossover—bargaining and terror.

And now I must go read all of Eudora Welty.

Switching back and forth from Solnit to Patchett. Brilliant books.

I have found only one essay, so far, that I am certain I've read before—good or bad thing? These are very fine essays.

Such a delightful read! Her three fathers, Thanksgiving, and not shopping! (Not to mention the Paris tattoo!)