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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.