Ann Patchett is getting to be a favorite author around here. Commonwealth, her latest, opens at an alcohol-fueled christening party. Imagine yourself, a cop, father of the new baby, opening the door to find a colleague ready to step across your threshold, uninvited. And by the time the party’s over, he and your wife are in love. Commonwealth wastes little time on the spark that [...]
At the request of a faithful reader, today I unveil my top-10 fiction list. And what does it take to make the list? A) The book has to be memorable. I read enough books that they almost whiz by like highway signs. Not all of them stick with me. Ah, but the ones that do, they’re like great road trips that I wish I could [...]
I guess I’ve turned into an Ann Patchett fan. We recently discussed her Bel Canto here and now we have moved on to her State of Wonder, a drama that combines medical intrigue with jungle adventure. The action starts when Marina, a doctor in the employ of a Minnesota pharmaceutical company, receives word that her colleague has died. His body is still down in the [...]
Tell me if this is how last day of your vacation goes: You gather up your toiletries and dirty laundry and stuff them into your suitcase. You buckle into your car/plane seat and watch sadly out the window as the skyscrapers/seacoast/mountain range recedes from view You regret all the shops you didn’t shop/restaurants you didn’t try/views you didn’t gaze on. You wish you could stay [...]
