I've been traveling these past ten days, and that means I’ve been getting a lot of reading done. I believe I am at least 10% smarter at 37,000 feet, but that may be because I know the phone isn’t going to ring and I don’t need to flip the laundry and I can’t check my email (well, that’s not entirely true: I was a little horrified to discover that I can now check email on American.) Of course I brought a lot of books with me. Looking back on what I read, I realize it fits nicely into that famous burden of superstition for brides: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Poor brides, as if they don’t have enough to worry about. Perhaps we could start a new trend of sending women down the aisle with a satchel of books.
Something Old
On the first flight out to give a talk at Stanford (changing planes in Dallas to the lovely San Jose airport which is so much better than flying into San Francisco) I read The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling. The terrific Andy Brennan at Parnassus had special ordered it for a customer and when I saw it sitting there I thought, how is it I’ve never read The Jungle Book? Spending time in a bookstore is a constant reminder of all the things I haven’t read, so I asked Andy order a copy for me as well. (We carry it now, don’t worry.) It would not be an exaggeration to say that flying over Oklahoma my eyes were filled with tears for the sheer beauty of the writing. This is not a silly Disney film. This is not an act of British Imperialism. This is a stunning book which is appropriate for children but should not be limited to them. Bagheera, Kaa, Rikki-tikki-tavi, are some of literature’s greatest animals. There were 700 people in the auditorium at Stanford that night and I asked for a show of hands, how many here have read The Jungle Book? I saw four hands go up. There’s nothing more exciting than reminding people to read a book they figured they could skip because they saw the movie. And while we’re on that subject, read Pinocchio. Seriously.
Something New
I had my pal Rick Kot at Viking get me a galley of Penelope Lively’s novel, How It All Began. It just came out this week. I started it in my hotel room in Palo Alto. I had a good bit of downtime, only one talk to give in the afternoon. Like most people, I tend to read in bed at night, but what a pleasure it is to read in bed in the morning! No reason to get up! No work until noon! The Lively book is that rarest of things, a book that is both smart and cheerful. Reading the jacket copy, it doesn’t necessarily sound like this is going to be the case -- an older woman is mugged, her hip is broken, people’s lives are rearranged as the ripples of this single act of violence spread – still, I found myself smiling again and again, mostly at the character Charlotte’s thoughts about books and the comfort she takes in reading. I took the book with me back to the San Jose airport (still loving both the airport and the book) and onto the flight to Portland. By the time I was in the Portland hotel I was close enough to the end that I had to finish. All the various threads in the novel wove together beautifully. This is a hard thing to pull off, trust me. I brought this book back to Nashville to give to a friend who had just been run over by a car.
I gave a talk in Portland. I spent my free time with my friend Anne and her dog Stella. We saw The Muppet Movie, which was a mistake. I then read a truly terrible novel which has not yet been published. A bigger mistake. I will not speak of the terrible novel. I read it on the plane from Portland to Denver. I finished it and was angry at myself for finishing it. In Denver I abandoned this bad novel three times, thinking that maybe someone else would find it and like it, and three times some kindly person said to me, “Are you forgetting your novel?” They called to board the flight. I waited to be the very last person on the plane, then dropped the book beneath my chair and made a run for it.
Something Borrowed
There was, of course, a blizzard in Denver and all flights out were delayed. It gave me the chance to start another book. This one I had borrowed from my friend Adrian Nicole LeBlanc who wrote the seminal book about urban poverty, Random Family. I LOVE Random Family. She had told me about Katherine Boo’s new book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, which wasn’t out yet (though it is now). Adrian had blurbed it so she had an early copy to loan me. Katherine Boo writes about issues of poverty for The New Yorker and is, along with Adrian, the well-deserved winner of a MacArthur ‘Genius’ grant. Behind the Beautiful Forevers is about the slums of Mumbai. In Denver, it was snowing so hard they kept canceling the flight to Aspen I was supposed to be on. At one point they put half of the people on the plane, changed their minds, and then took them off again. I didn’t care. I was reading. They told us they would try to fly to Aspen and if they couldn’t land they’d turn around and try to land again in Denver. This is an important point: I would not have thought that a book about the slums of Mumbai would engage me to the point that I would be oblivious to the possibility of my own death. Boo gets deep into the personalities of the people she follows. She paints a story of poverty, humanity, limitless corruption, and yet somehow manages to keep her touch light enough to make it bearable. The plane landed in Aspen. I was reading as I walked through the snow. While I was there I didn’t ski. I read about Mumbai.
Something Blue
In Aspen, I visited the terrific independent bookstore, The Explorer. I love this store. It’s in an old house with big, comfy chairs and a giant gray cat and a great restaurant upstairs. The cat will come up and bump against your leg while you’re eating, which is a little shocking but not displeasing. Even though I own a bookstore, I had come to buy a book. Based on the rate at which I was reading, I knew that Behind the Beautiful Forevers would only get me to Chicago where I had to change planes. I would need one more little book to make it home. So I bought a copy of Alan Bennett’s new book, Smut. First off, I love Alan Bennett; The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Uncommon Reader are two of my favorites. Not only are they perfectly written, they are masterworks of pleasing design (thank you, Picador.) If you get this book on your e-reader, you’re going to miss the lovely blue cover sprinkled with teacups, though when I say this book is blue, I am not referring to the cover, I am referring to the smut itself. Smut is just dirty enough, it is the perfect balance of dirty and very properly British. It is extremely funny and as neatly pieced together as a Swiss watch. It was the book I felt I deserved after reading about Mumbai. I gave a reading at The Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, and so ended my trip. By the time the plane touched down in Nashville I had finished my book. I thought of ten people I was going to send Smut to. Both of my parents and my mother-in-law were on the list.
It is heaven to be home again and back at Parnassus, but I feel a little wistful thinking I will be reading more emails than books this week. It was good while it lasted.
Ann
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Comments
we are spreading the word
I write for a small newspaper in Peterborough NH where our local bookstore is called the Toadstool. Thought you might like my last column which goes under the heading of Moments of Bliss
Headline:More time to spend with my greatest obsession
Ah, spring! As surely as summer follows spring, the lawn begins to grow. Or does it? We expect rapid changes in New England weather, but this year has been exceptional. Winter was for the most part pre-Halloween. Spring has had dramatic extremes of hot and cold.
Oh, what a crisis. When will I get the mower over to Ronnie’s Small Engine in Jaffrey?
How will I? I sold my truck two years ago.
Then I remember, and bliss takes over. The answer is, I don’t have to and it has nothing to do with the weather. It has to do with an encore, a repeat performance as exceptional as was the Duke Ellington Sunday matinee.
For the joys of spring now include our lawn guys. Still in high school, it is my hope they set their sights no higher. No matter what they do in life, they can’t bring more happiness than they do right now, to me.
Then again, being the recipient of great deeds has drawbacks. I will not see Ronnie or his son Brian at their engine barn. Our mower will remain motionless in the shed.
Ronnie will survive, but I will miss the greeting the family always gives me. Ronnie and clan have been a spring ritual for almost two decades. Tears swell up, but only for a moment.
For then as surely as fall follows summer, I wake up and smell the roses and prepare myself for the lawn guys. It is like preparing a feast. I feel like Dagwood making Blondie a sandwich and then eating it himself.
Preparations begin. What books can I select to read on the deck as the guys run mowers over tracks I once tread. Oh, how I love my wife. She is the one responsible for this blessed event.
Each year my book shelves grow. Even with a new Kindle Touch, the books in my office increase. At least once a week the UPS guy knocks at the door and magically another package is on the front step.
Who does the ordering? Can it really be me? Time to prep another green tea and think it over.
With a hot tea in hand I can come clean.
Yes, it is me who orders all the books. I love ordering books. It is like another’s Home Depot and Edmonds Hardware rolled into one.
Nothing on earth gives me more pleasure than ordering and reading books.
Not long ago, I found a bookstore online whose physical presence is in Nashville. It is called Parnassus Books and is co-owned by author Ann Patchett, whose most recent book is “State of Wonder.”
Her store just started a new book club called The Parnassus First Editions Club. Once you sign up, the staff promises to send 10 to 12 first edition books a year. All of them signed by the authors.
Toadstool take note. For a guy who orders most of his books through a discounted Amazon price, I signed up immediately. I even pay shipping, which I never do online.
Why am I telling you this? Because I can’t help myself. It is like telling people I have had a hole in one (and I have), but this is different.
This is not bragging about self. I am like Diogenes in search of an honest man. Just one person who thinks this is as exciting as I do, and when we connect, I want to have lunch. I’ll buy, and it will be bliss.
The difference between a human and an algorithm
"Amazon gives you algorithms: it will tell you what books the people who bought the book you bought also bought (a ridiculously clumsy sentence that I can’t seem to improve.) That’s a shopping statistic. That is not an opinion."
WELL PUT.
Thank you for this, Ann! And thank you for your recent piece in Wall Street Times. The world is lucky to have you in it. xoxoxo
Something New
I began reading with the utmost careful eye, being in awe of your success as well as your current situation; it sounded like a dream to fly around hidden inside books. Brings to mind a certain quick-handed little film about flying books that won an OSCAR! But I digress.... Just had to say the section "something new" was hysterically funny. "Are you forgetting your novel?" You know had it been your new cell phone that would never have happened the first time. GREAT STUFF, thanks!
Good Morning!
So glad I caught you on "The Colbert Show." Thought I'd easily reserve "Smut," "How It All Began," and "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" at the local library (as the Carnegie Library has many branches in my area), but the best I could do was get on long waiting lists. Plan to keep following this blog. Signed up for newsletter. Going to look for RSS feed on main page.
With the way current political events are shaping up, I expect a return of demand for feminist lit. If you have thoughts or recommendations about fem lit, please consider a blog post. Thanks.
Parnassus
One of the chapters in my little book on teaching is "Gradus ad Parnassum." Did you name the store after the lovely little novel by Christopher Morley, "Parnassus on Wheels?" By the way, I was introduced to Bel Canto by a former PhD student who loved it, and we argued back and forth for about 25 emails about it. Now one of my oldest friends is challenging me to another email duel.
Colbert Report
Great job on the Cobert Report. Looking forward to the Colbert bump your store and book will receive!
TJ
Muppets...
Did you really see "The Muppet Movie" from 1979, which is a great film? Or did you see "The Muppets", which was recently in theaters, and which is only slightly less great a film?
More Titles for the TBR List
Thanks, Ann,
I now have more titles to add to my never-ending TBR list. I hope that I will be able to visit Parnassus someday soon whenever I get back toward Nashville.
Lori in Memphis
My apologies
I didn't even finish reading the post before scooting back my chair, walking directly to the childrens section of the downtown library and checking out The Jungle Book to read to my 5 year old tonight. There are three others waiting if anyone wants them, but I took the one with the prettiest illustrations. Sorry :)
Colbert Bump
I did the next best thing....I bought Ann's book, State of Wonder, at my own independent book store, Klindt's, in The Dalles, Oregon. Klindt's has been in business as the book store in our town since the 1800s (with two other names before the Klindt's purchased it in the 1980s). I love bookstores and have mourned the loss of them. Thank you, Ann, for giving voice to all of us who love the physical and emotional comfort of selecting a book, reading a book, and talking with others about books.