Truth and Beauty

Ann Patchett is the author of eight novels, The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, The Magician’s Assistant, Bel Canto, Run, State of Wonder, Commonwealth and The Dutch House. She was the editor of Best American Short Stories, 2006, and has written three books of nonfiction, Truth & Beauty, What now? and, most recently, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. She has won numerous prizes, including the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. Patchett is the co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives with her husband, Karl VanDevender, and their dog, Sparky.

'Truth and Beauty, Patchett's account of her relationship with Grealy, is not a story of commonplace camaraderie. Theirs is a love story, a first-love story, an account of devotion so intense that it compares to conventional friendship as closely as double cream does to Dream Topping. Her luminously detailed book, written in the aftermath of Lucy's death is an intentionally warts-and-all portrait of the woman 'with whom I was a native speaker'. Signing on for a love affair with her, Ann Patchett was committing herself not only to great joy but also, seemingly, to tragedy.' Elspeth Linder, Observer Praise for Bel Canto: 'A beguiling mix of thriller, romantic comedy, and novel of ideas!Crisply written, immaculately plotted, and often very funny, it is that rarity -- a literary novel you simply can't put down.' The Times 'Like the blueprint of operatic performance that she has imported, Patchett slides from strutting camp to high tragedy, minute social comedy to sublime romanticism.' Alex Clark, Guardian 'Expect miracles when you read Ann Patchett's fiction. Comparisons are tempting to the unabashed romanticism of Laurie Colwin, the eccentric characters of Anne Tyler, the enchantments of Alice Hoffman. But Patchett is unique; a generous, fearless and startlingly wise young writer.' New York Times