Beginning ~ with thoughts of her own death

Beginning

The first time I remember seriously thinking about my own death, I was twenty-six years old and working on my first novel, The Patron Saint of Liars.

A sentence from the second paragraph that made me stop and think:

Remembering things is how I work.

These Precious Days ~ by Ann Patchett, 2022, essays, 336 pages

This bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships, and writing in this very personal collection of essays.  The title essay is a meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores "what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self."  When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks' short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing.  It would introduce her to a remarkable woman — Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki — with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both. 

Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds in a new way, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be.  She tells us about the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy as she connects life and art as she shares what matters most.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.