Ann Patchett

Offering an invitation into her personal life, the noted author shares the stories of the people, places, ideals, and art to which she has remained indelibly committed.

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

Trish

Sometimes love does not have the most honorable beginnings, and the endings, the endings will break you in half. It's everything in between we live for.

This was my first encounter with Ann Patchett and her writing and I must say I'm thoroughly impressed. In reading this collection I've realized that there are so many authors whose works I love but whom I do not know at all. The only other book I can think of that provided such a window into the author's soul was Jeannette Walls's The Glass Castle. Though Walls wrote a memoir and Patchett put together some of her favorite articles and essays she's written over the years, both are candid, funny (at times), heartbreaking (at times), and so very unapologetically honest. 

My favorite stories/entries were the ones about Rose, Ann's unique relationship with Karl, and the one about Ann's 'work' vacation at the Hotel Bel-Air. There is no doubt in my mind, now that I know I adore and admire this author as a person, that I will read her works of fiction in the near future.

For more bookish photos, reviews and updates follow me on instagram @concerningnovels.

Elizabeth Moore

Ann rocks!! I really enjoyed this book, and really really want to go and hang out with Ann and have her tell me more stories. These essays are so well put together and they are beautiful together as a whole piece. Some stories did it more for me than others, and I was especially fond of Ann's stories about her dad and training for the LAPD, her relationship with her husband Karl, her dog Rose (TISSUES!), the story of her bookstore, and some of her shorter pieces like the piece on Tennessee and the story about the flood in Nashville. So basically I liked everything. I will say that as a reader and badly-out-of-practice writer, The Getaway Car actually wasn't one of my favorite stories in this collection; I've found myself way more attached to memoirs on writing such as Bird By Bird (Annie Lamott) and On Writing (Stephen King), but that's just me. Go do yourself a favor and read this with a happy glass of wine (or three)!

Lauren Attaway

I honestly have not read any of Ann Patchett's work (for shame, I know) but the mention of her in Elizabeth Gilbert's book Big Magic had me curious. This is a collection of previously published essays for the most part, so while not every section interested me (I had a particularly uncomfortable time with the LAPD one), the writing was always so strong. I definitely will be exploring more of her work, now, because if she can keep me so interested in things that don't interest me, I imagine the fiction is really going to get me.

Melody Izard

Hey Ann. So good to meet you. Oh my gosh I am such of fan! Bel Canto is one of my favorites. But, I really knew nothing about you. I don't want to know as much about you as, say, Anne Lamott likes to tell. But I did like seeing your realness. And I met Eudora Welty too and she autographed a book for me and encouraged me to write. There are other similarities but I don't want to creep you out. I've got more reading to do.

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is an irresistible blend of literature and memoir revealing the big experiences and little moments that shaped Ann Patchett as a daughter, wife, friend and writer. Here, Ann Patchett shares entertaining and moving stories about her tumultuous childhood, her painful early divorce, the excitement of selling her first book, driving a Winnebago from Montana to Yellowstone Park, her joyous discovery of opera, scaling a six-foot wall in order to join the Los Angeles Police Department, the gradual loss of her beloved grandmother, starting her own bookshop in Nashville, her love for her very special dog and, of course, her eventual happy marriage. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a memoir both wide ranging and deeply personal, overflowing with close observation and emotional wisdom, told with wit, honesty and irresistible warmth.

Megan McMorran

Patchett is confident, clear -- a seasoned essayist and novelist. This collection of essays is a satisfying assortment that includes an unsentimental perspective of her happy marriage; an account of trying out for the LAPD that includes her training at the police academy (Patchett's father worked for the LAPD) and what I consider to be one of the finest accounts of becoming a writer I've ever read (and I've read and heard plenty). Aspiring writers take note.  

Michael Hessling

Great collection of essays. Superb writer. My favorite essay was the one on writing, of course.

Jessica Gardner

Karla America Breier

Brian Wikene

Andréa Mellalieu

Cheri Fuller

Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto, examines her deepest commitments—to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband—creating a resonant portrait of a life in This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage takes us into the very real world of Ann Patchett’s life. Stretching from her childhood to the present day, from a disastrous early marriage to a later happy one, it covers a multitude of topics, including relationships with family and friends, and charts the hard work and joy of writing, and the unexpected thrill of opening a bookstore. As she shares stories of the people, places, ideals, and art to which she has remained indelibly committed, Ann Patchett brings into focus the large experiences and small moments that have shaped her as a daughter, wife, and writer.

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

Reviews