Ann Patchett

I am not a big short story fan. I prefer to read something that will last a long time, otherwise I might forget what happened. It's like watching a movie over a tv series. If the movie (or short story) is particularly memorable, that's great, but if I've had my nose in it for a period of time (even if we binge on a tv series and watch a whole season in one week or so), it tends to stick in my aging brain.

So, when I saw that Ann Patchett had a new book out, I quickly got in the queue at the library for it. Imagine my (slight) disappointment in finding out that it is a collection of essays. I'm always on the hunt for fiction, and essays are the short stories of nonfiction.

However, this IS Ann Patchett writing, and I was drawn into the essays with ease. Although the subjects are wide-ranging, I found that there was a sort of flow to their order. The funny thing was that the final essay was my least favorite, and many people, self included, don't particularly like her novels' endings (even if we loved the book).

One of the most interesting essays I found was her introduction to the Best American Short Stories 2006 for which she was the editor. She made such a strong case for the short story that I actually went on to paperbackswap.com and ordered that 2006 collection. So, we'll see if she makes a convert out of me….