In a cultural moment when we are hearing nothing but bad news, we have reassuring evidence that the dumbing down of our culture is not inevitable.
~Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts
Good news from the National Endowment for the Arts. According to a report it released today, “Reading on the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy,” fiction reading increased for adults for the first time after a quarter-century of decline.
A New York Times article about the report stated that for the first time since 1982, which is when the US Census Bureau started collecting data on public participation in the arts,
…the proportion of adults 18 and older who said they had read at least one novel, short story, poem or play in the previous 12 months has risen.
Wooo-hooo! People are reading again.
Fiction accounts for the new growth in adult readers (unfortunately, reading of poetry and drama specifically has continued to decline) and online book reading has gone up (something I personally can’t get into). Also up is reading among younger adults (ages 18-24) and Hispanics. ¡Viva!
Mr. Gioia attributed the increase in part to programs the NEA has underwritten, such as the “Big Read,” which is a library partnership to encourage communities to champion particular books, like The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
He also attributed the increase to things like Oprah Winfrey’s book club and the phenomenon of young adult fiction like Harry Potter or the Twilight Series. (I read the first five Harry Potter books out loud to my daughters and then got hooked and had to finish up the last two on my own.)
Not to put too much of the credit on our shoulders, but I think blogs that encourage reading (see our post “Book Talk – Do You Let Yourself Read” as one of many examples, and “The World According To Mr. Schminda (et al.)” for a list of about 100 must-read classics) have also played a small but vital role. Just peruse some of the links on our blogroll and you’ll see several fellow bloggers reviewing classic works of fiction or otherwise touting books and reading. And these are just a handful of the thousands of literary-minded blogs that have cropped up over the past couple of years.
I know I’m doing my part in countering the dumbing down of America. Right now, I’m reading the first Stephenie Meyers book in the Twilight series outloud to my youngest (one could argue it’s not exactly high literature nor age-appropriate for a nine-year-old, but hey, it took us more than three months to finish The Hobbit last year, and already in four nights we’re one-fourth of the way through Twilight).
Then on my own, I’m reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. (And yes, it is hard to switch between a 17-year-old in Forks, Oregon Washington who’s falling in love with a vampire versus a pair of Jewish escapists/cartoonists in 1930s Prague and Brooklyn.)
What about you? What book or books are you reading in this new year, and have you consumed more fiction of late than in the past? If so, what has compelled you read more?
ybonesy, I am currently reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. Love it! My next book is Light in August by William Faulkner. I had planned on reading Light in August at our camp this past summer, but we were unable to get there when J became ill. I brought it home with me when we closed up the camp for winter.
I usually have 2 books going at once, but I vowed to myself that this year I would read one at a time.
I owe my love of reading to both my Mom & Dad. They always encouraged me to read. I share every book I’ve read with family & friends. I get most of my books from the Salvation Army Store on half price day.
I’m glad to hear that reading is on the rise. I have many books here (age appropriate for a 7 year old) when Brant spends a night with us. Amazing how quickly he has learned to read! And he really enjoys it. D
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Those both sound like great books. Have you read anything else by either author?
Also, I love that you pick up your books at the Salvation Army for such a good price. Is it easy to find classics there?
Just curious, what are you and Brant reading these days? I know at that age, I started with Trumpet of the Swan and Stuart Little, both books that had belonged to Jim when he was a child. And also Charlotte’s Web and the one with the Toad. Oh, lots of good old classics.
Boy, was it a struggle to finish The Hobbit, for both me and my daughter. Dee also read it (or, rather, re-read it) in 6th grade English class, so Em and I thought we’d read it too. But the writing is really pretty advanced, and personally I’m not that into Science Fiction or Fantasy, Harry Potter being an exception. (And I did love Lord of the Rings movies!)
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Well, first I had to make it a point to *make* time for book reading which I did in 2007, though still not at my pre-mom levels 🙂 In 2008 I simply kept plugging away at a pile of books that had been growing for years. I try to alternate between fiction and non-fiction. The fiction quota was filled quite nicely as I finally devoured the HP series in 2008 – finishing up books 4-7 during the winter break. It was a joy to have the time and the good books to read! I hope that my 12 year old (who declared me nutso for reading like that!) will some day find the joy in it. Right now he only loves that I do still read to him every night and we are into a couple of different sports/mystery related teen series.
I’m hoping that 2009 is the year that I finish the existing pile and can them start looking for new ones.
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Wow, three HP books during winter break!? That is a lot of reading! Those are thick books. But I think I did Book 7 in about four days when it came out, so I can understand how you can lose yourself in those stories. It’s especially appealing when you don’t have to wait for the sequel. 8)
Same with me, tpgoddess, re: getting to my growing pile of books. I asked for and got the Michael Chabon book I’m reading now for Christmas of ’07. I didn’t ask for any books this Christmas since I still had these others that I’d not even started. So I’m pretty committed to reading books that have been on my list now for a while, and I’m enjoying fiction after having read much more memoir of late.
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Ybonesy – i am currently reading, sequentially, Broken Ground by Jack Hodgins, and am nibbling, chapter by chapter, The Master and Margherita by Mikhail Bulghakov.
Last fall i read Desert Solitaire, by Edwar Abbey, loved it and reread sections from time to time. I am tring to read more CanLit. There are some fabulous writers in Canada of who i am trying to make acquaintance, as should a Canadian be aware of local culture and be steeped in it. G
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Jim’s a huge fan of Edward Abbey. I got him a couple more Abbey books for Christmas in ’07. I also got him the book of photos by Elliot Porter on Glen Canyon Dam, an out-of-print book of large color photos of the area before the dam was built. I think Abbey might have done some of the writing in that book.
Two Canadian authors that I used to love and read some books of: Margaret Laurence (hope I’m spelling that right) and The Diviners. That’s the only book of hers I read, though. And I’ve read many books by Margaret Atwood. I especially love Cat’s Eye for its portrayal of middle-school aged girls. Hmmm, I should reread that one now, given my daughters’ ages.
But I have to say, I haven’t read either for years. Like tpgoddess, I was just such a more consistent reader of fiction before I had kids.
Hey, any Canadian authors you’d recommend?
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yb, yes, I have read The Exile by Pearl S. Buck. All were gotten at the Salvation Army Store. Next in the line up is Zen For Americans, a translation of Soyen Shaku by D.T. Suzuki. The selection is amazing & the lady who is in charge of the book section does a wonderful job of keeping fiction & non-fiction seperated & by author! The book section is huge & very busy on half price day! I also got a huge hard back book of classic bedtime stories for Brant there. Books for children are in a different aisle.
As for Brant, we started with Dr. Seuss books when he was younger, then graduated to Step into Reading books. He does the reading of these.
One of his favorites is Falling up by Shel Silverstein, which we read several pages fromwhen he is here. His very favorite books are from Walter the Farting dog series. We’ve read two, Trouble at the Yard Sale & Walter the Farting Dog-Goes on a Cruise! These 3 books were given to him by Daddy & his friend J. So fun! D
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The book section is huge & very busy on half price day!
How fabulous, diddy! I wonder if any of our Salvation Armys have a good supply. Our library’s pretty good, although small. And you don’t get to keep ’em. (I like to underline passages and write in definitions of words that I have look up in the dictionary. Can’t do either with library books.)
Zen for Americans should be good. Maybe there will be some haiku in that one.
Ha, laughed at the title of Walter & the Farting Dog. Goes on a cruise, eh? Probably lots of farting types there, given all the food they eat and sitting they do on cruises. 8)
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This is good news! Thanks for the post, ybonesy!
I am currently reading This Side of Paradise (F. Scott Fitzgerald).
Though I’m not very good at sticking to this new resolve, I’ve been making a conscious effort lately to read the writers of the Midwest. Why? It somehow seems respectful, or like some sort of prerequisite–knowing my own people. My own lineage. I’ve got a stack of Patricia Hampl & Louise Erdrich waiting to be read when I’m done with Paradise.
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I tried reading This Side of Paradise year before last and had a kind of hard time getting into it. So cultured or affected or something, I just had a hard time relating to that life of privilege. But that’s the whole point of books—opening up a world that you don’t know. I should try it again. Do you like it?
Oh, btw, I think the NEA’s “Big Read” program is exactly that—getting people in communities oriented to and interested in writers from their regions. So, F. Scott Fitzgerald for the Midwest. It’s really a good idea. I think finding those connections is important. I know I started my fiction reading life reading almost all female authors because of the woman connection. Then I read a bunch of Latinos and Chicanos. And now I’m not sure what’s propelling me to read what I’m reading. I’m kind of just meandering at this point.
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I’m only about 20 pages into This Side, and I like it. I know what you’re saying about the life of privilege–it’s a little dull and silly. I found that with The Great Gatsby, too. I didn’t deeply care for any of the characters or their “society” problems.
But I know a lot about Fitzgerald, and how his life turned out years and years after this book came out. It’s terribly autobiographical (I don’t know if this was completely intentional), and I’m curious to see how the book will end. Of course when he wrote it, Fitzgerald didn’t know his life would collapse in alcoholism, a wife gone mad, and an early death in obscurity. He sort of thought he was the next Shakespeare.
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This was enjoyable. Thank goodness for fiction.. and… thank goodness there’s still a National Endowment for the Arts. If certain conservation groups had gotten their way, it would have ceased to exist in the 1990’s.
I agree with you that the wide-spread popularity of blogging may have some influence on the reading stats. More than once my interest in a book has been piqued by another bloggers take on a particular work of literature.
(this is geeky and anal retentive and disgustingly fussy, but I think it’s Forks, WA, not OR. I only mention it cus… I’m being geeky and anal retentive and disgustingly fussy.)
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yb, Walter the Farting Dog does go on a cruise with his family, but when he starts stinking up the ship, the Captain sends him to a special place for pets. He ends up eating a roll of cheese & fills up with gas. The ships engine fails & Walter can no longer hold his gas problem in & is able to let it rip & ends up his gas power gets the ship to safe ground!
Check out the Salvation Army store in your area. They usually have to pack all of my finds in a huge box. And most of the books I buy there have neve been opened by the previous owners. How sad. D
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amuirin, oh gawd, you’re right, it’s Forks, WA. See that’s what happens when you have two engaging books in process at the same time! I’ll fix that.
Hey, you were exactly one of the bloggers I was thinking of when I was thinking about bloggers who write about books and writing. 8)
diddy, that is funny. I wonder if he ate a roll of Velveeta. That will give anyone enough gas to fuel a ship. Ha!
Teri, your writing about Fitzgerald and his life gone awry, it reminds me how sometimes I am attracted to an author largely because of a desire to be voyeur into his or her life. And the more messed up the life, the more I seem to be attracted. I would love to read a biography of Fitzgerald. Have you ever read one?
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Walter is very funny. The cheese he ate was simply called stinky cheese. I forgot to mention that the animals couldn’t even stand the smell of Walter, so he gets put in a life raft & is pulled by the ship & that’s how he was able to blow them to shore. Oh well, enough about Walter. D
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Oh yeah, in our family we called blue cheese “stinky cheese.” Eating a roll of that would create very high velocity gas for sure.
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diddy, I really must do a Fart post in your honor. In our honor, as it does seem to be a topic we thoroughly enjoy. 8)
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Please do! We couldn’t have the Festival of Farts at camp this past summer! D
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my nose is always in a book… i just finished my MBA so i am now spending time in mystery and fiction. what a nice change from finance, marketing, and leadership topics. (Eleanor Roosevelt autobiography was the last of the reads)
Now on the pile:sherman alexie “The absolutely true story of a part time Indian” which i saw on the Daily Show and it seemed pretty interesting. i’ll let you know when i get there. Steve Berry, The Romanov Prophacy, The art of Detection by Laurie King, and Andrew Greely (The Bishop at the Lake). There is a stack of about 8 other books on the bedside floor just waiting for me to indulge.
Reading is a destressor, a way to relax, and a place to escape. Reading is a way to learn, understand, and grow.
it motivates me to read.
the last poetry i read was a book on haiku from geisha women, but i loaned it out and it’s gone…
the last pre-MBA book was Madaline Albright The mighty and Almighty, which is a look at politics and religion, and spirituality. It was very good.
well, thats my update on the reading list.
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reccos, I love Sherman Alexie. I love his poetry, but I also got Jim a book of his short stories for Christmas in ’07— Ten Little Indians. I haven’t read it myself but would love to.
I can see why you went on a Marketing/Finance/Leadership topics strike. I still can’t stand Leadership books, although many come my way as part of my job. And books like Who Moved My Cheese. Ack…talk about the dumbing down of America! I mean, at least talk to us as if we’re not 3rd graders who can’t understand concepts of change unless represented by mice and cheese. (Although, I have been wanting to go see The Tale of Despereaux). 8)
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I read two outstanding books in December:
“Haiku” from the Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets. Natalie Goldberg tipped me off to this one. The Japanese haiku section of the book is translated by R.H. Blythe, who Nat thinks is THE best. The book also includes sections of both traditional and modern Western haiku.
“The Triggering Town” by Richard Hugo. Subtitled “Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing, it is a small but mighty volume. Every writer should read this book. It’s that good.
In January, I finished “Ballistics,” a good poetry book by Billy Collins and I’m now reading “Ceremony” by Leslie Marmon Silko, which is excellent fiction, written in an unconventional form without chapters.
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I’m still re-reading “Lonesome Dove”, I leave it alone for a while, then I’ll pick it up again. Its a great novel! One of the best I’ve read.
I’ve been reading it during D.E.A.R. time. My 8th graders are impressed that I’d be reading a book so thick. I took it home over the Christmas break and almost finished it (the outfit is crossing Wyoming and Deets…). I am back to reading it 10 min/day during D.E.A.R.
Its been a good break from the non-fiction I’ve been mostly reading for the last few years. I am enjoying it more this go-round than the first time I read it.
MM
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I wanted to make one last comment on this post. I buy most of my my books from thrift stores & yard sales. My way to recycle. I then share them with friends and family. I used to belong to a library when we we lived in another town. But, I am not so good when when it comes to deadlines. Has anyone had a bookmobile (bus on wheels with books inside to choose from- a library on wheels!) come to their town? I remember mine from childhood. It visited our hometown once a month when I was younger & my Mom would drive the 10 miles to take me there every month. They still have it to this day. Well, today is my half price day at the the Salvation Army & this post has insprired me to go again. I am probably setting myself up for another stack of books, but so what? I so enjoy reading & sharing! D
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Now that is good news!
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Some great comments on this thread on the books people are reading this year. I am so happy people in general are reading more! YEAH! I have not read fiction in quite a while. I think the last was a Louise Erdrich book last year. I tend to read non-fiction more and have a couple of memoirs that I want to dig into but thus far have not.
What I am reading most right now is poetry and short writings about poetry and poets. I have a couple of antique poetry books in my studio and I always pick those up when I’m there and read a few poems out loud.
I also have an antique book of short stories with a full page or two of bio about each author (pages preceding the story) that fascinates me. Mostly because of the things that people noticed about authors back in the early 1900’s compared to what they seem to notice today in the age of blockbusters. Old literature books are a treasure.
I’m especially interested in the book on haiku from geisha women that reccos62 mentioned. reccos62, if you remember the title, let me know.
And breathepeace, I’m definitely going to get the two books you mentioned — “Haiku” from the Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets and “The Triggering Town” by Richard Hugo, subtitled “Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing. That’s exactly the kind of thing I’m reading right now.
I don’t know if my attention span is short of late, or if I’ve made shifts in what I want to read but I’ll keep noticing and check back in.
diddy, we had a bookmobile when I was in grade school in South Carolina. If I remember correctly, it only came around in the summers though. I distinctly remember reading outside wherever I could find shade from the humidity and heat. I also remember the summer pleasure of Highlights. Things seemed so much simpler then. 8)
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I remember the bookmobiles in summer, too. What a great idea. In fact, when I was young, like elementary school, I never really remember going to the library.
Our community library now has so many events, and maybe that’s the way they bring kids out to get books. They tie in a book reading challenge to the events, so that the kids fill out the books they read each week, put the form into a bag, and do a drawing at the events. But the events are outdoor theater, puppetshows, story tellers, dancers, magicians, bands. It’s really fun, and I love to disappear into the reading room in the library and read while the kids watch the shows.
breathepeace, I too am interested in the books you mentioned, and especially the Hugo book that you say is a must-read for writers. Thanks for the tips.
MM, I’ve not read Lonesome Dove, but have heard rave reviews about it. Did you see the movie?
QM, the antique books sound very special. Where did you find them? Have you ever photographed them? I’d love to see a photo.
I do think one has to be in the mood for fiction to read it, and be able and willing to dedicate a longer attention span. Same with a long memoir. Actually any reading really—novels, memoirs, poems—requires a presence of mind, doesn’t it? So perhaps it’s a function of how much time one has and can commit to the work of reading.
And speaking of poems, did you notice that the report mentioned that reading of poetry is on the decline. I thought of you and Teri, QM, and how your poetry group is bucking the trend. I hope it catches on.
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breathepeace,
I’ve heard about Ceremony for years (well, ever since I met Natalie Goldberg), and have never read it. Thanks for the reminder. I was interested to see that you have read Billy Collins lately. He’s our next poet for our Poetry & Meditation group. On one of the poetry sites I peruse, he was the “most searched poet of 2008.” I have a *hilarious* sound recording of him reading his poem “Lanyard.” Have you heard it?
When I was a child we lived outside the city limits of our small town, which precluded me from checking out books from the City Library. I would go there after my piano lesson (it is a Carnegie Library), and long to check something out. The librarians regularly gave me the speech: “Because your parents live outside the city limits, they pay no city taxes. Therefore, they are not paying for this library and you can’t use it.”
At the time, they didn’t seem to mind turning away a nine-year-old from reading, but maybe it broke their hearts. Happily this rule has changed, and now the country mice can check out books along with the city mice.
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ybonesy, one book is from the 1800’s and it’s called Poetical Quotations. The poems (and quotes from poems) are listed by theme so that you might read each one at a time when you are feeling a similar emotion or want to read or write something that goes along with that theme. My mother gave it to me as a gift after I started to follow the call to writing. It belonged to her Great Aunt Cassie. The other poetry book and the short story book, Liz and I found at a garage sale along with a book on The Family Twain. I’ve started reading Mark Twain’s story about the Mississippi River in that one. But it’s taking me a while to complete it (slow and steady as she goes).
Liz and I watch Antiques Roadshow and once in a while an old book will come up that’s worth quite a bit of money. I’m really terrible at discerning what’s rare and what’s not when I look at antiques. But some people seem to be gifted in that area. It’s amazing some of the prices these old things will command: vintage posters, jewelry, Art Deco vases, the black dress Marilyn Monroe wore in Some Like It Hot. Amazing.
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I watch that show, too, QM, and I’m also often amazed by the prices some items fetch. Folk art, especially, seems dear to collectors.
The book of poetry quotations seems to be a good one to have on hand at all times. Kind of a ‘by your bedside’ book, or, as I think you said, in your studio. Sometimes I like to open a book like that to a random page and see what it says.
Teri, wow, that’s interesting how they wouldn’t let the country kids check out books from the library when you were a child. Yes, happy to hear that’s not the case any longer.
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I’ll have to check with my Mom to see how often our bookmobile came, but if memory serves me, we did not have a library in our grade school, so during the school year it came there once a month also. Our town had no library, & it was until I attended high school that I had access to one. My parents did however, provide myself & siblings to a multitude of books.
Oh, & QM, Highlights! I always looked forward to those & for the past 3 years have subscribed for Brant to have it delivered in the mail at his house.
After rereading my early morning comments, I have typos, for which I am sorry about. I couldn’t sleep last night.
Also, in no way was I saying libraries are a bad thing. They are wonderful! I fully intend on joining, along with Brant, this summer. Wanted to last summer, but events that occured made that impossible.
Also, I so enjoy hearing what other’s are reading!
Oh, & QM, I also am a fan of Antiques Roadshow. I have an antique book about antiques. I wonder if it’s worth anything! 🙂 D
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Teri — my book group just read Billy Collins. The discussion leader shared a video about Collins, made when he was Poet Laureate. I liked hearing him read his poetry and there was a good discussion with other Poet Laureates, too. Maybe this video is available through your library.
Heartbreaking story from your childhood. I can really feel your longing and disappointment, which were not alleviated a bit by hearing, once again, about the city tax code. I wanted to imagine a city friend swooping into the picture to check the books out for you!
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Good ol’ Wall Street Journal (I’m starting to like it more than I used to)—today’s issue has an essay by Ann Patchett titled “The Triumph of the Readers” (LINK) about the NEA report regarding the recent rise in fiction reading. Check it out!!
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Great quote from her on the rise of 18-to-24-year olds:
Like the chicken pox, getting infected by the desire to read is best when it hits us early…I am a firm believer in the fact that it isn’t so much what you read, it’s that you read. Reading fiction not only develops our imagination and creativity, it gives us the skills to be alone. It gives us the ability to feel empathy for people we’ve never met, living lives we couldn’t possibly experience for ourselves, because the book puts us inside the character’s skin.”
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Oh, wonderful quote from Ann Patchett. I will definitely check out the link you provided to her essay about reading. I really love her as an author, and seeing her at the Fitz and chatting a bit when she signed our books was a real treat. In fact, when you wrote this post, I was thinking about some of the last fiction I read and one book was hers — The Magician’s Assistant. I had actually read some of her more recent books before I read that one.
I loved the characters in Magician and they have really stuck with me. Some of those characters are salt of the earth from Nebraska and what she says about feeling empathy for people we’ve never met, living lives we couldn’t possibly experience ourselves — it was evident she was able to do that when she wrote that book. Just as you said about Isabel Allende, Ann Patchett is a writer’s writer.
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