Category: Ann Patchett

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Not a year for fiction?

I cannot pretend to guess why the Pulitzer Prize committee, in its great wisdom, decided not to award a prize in fiction this year. I had personally been hoping they might crown my friend Edith Pearlman’s magical year: her excellent “Binocular Vision” won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award. My sister-in-law Susan, one of the most astute and adventurous readers I know, is urging me to read Denis Johnson’s “Train Dreams.” I had thought this year’s crop seemed pretty bountiful. No? Well, what do I know?

This morning Ann Patchett has a smart column in the New York Times making the excellent point that prizes, like it or not, help to sell books and selling books is what keeps the publishers and the bookstores in business. Patchett says it is fiction that gives us a way to imagine another life. It gives us a chance to be empathetic. And, she says, “staying within the world of a novel gives us the ability to be quiet and alone, two skills that are disappearing faster than polar icecaps.”

Ah, quiet. Ah, alone. Alone with a good book–what could be better?

Remember the book that first opened that magic door for you, the one that showed you a world where another life happened and you, at least for the length of the story, were part of it? Doesn’t that still happen? Doesn’t a good story well told still have the power to grab us from our screens and plunge us deep into the page? What was your prize-winner this year?

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When good things happen to good writers

I have just returned from a lovely party celebrating my friend Edith Pearlman and her new book, “Binocular Vision: New and Selected Stories.” It is Edith’s fourth book and begins with an enthusiastic intro by Ann Patchett, herself a wonderful writer. You may have read the glowing front page review in the New York Times with your morning coffee. Or the similar one in the Los Angeles Times. I can’t wait to read the book and you’ll want to read it, too.

Edith has published hundreds of works of fiction and nonfiction in literary journals, national magazines, and online publications. Her short stories have been anthologized (“Best American Short Stories”) and have won O. Henry, Pushcart, and other prestigious prizes. So why has the tone of the praise been along the lines of “why haven’t I heard of Edith Pearlman before?” More importantly, why are people hearing about her now?

Edith herself credits a few people–her agent, Jill Kneerim; Patchett, who has admired her work for years; and Benjamin George, the editor of Lookout Books, the brand new literary imprint beginning its life with “Binocular Vision.” What happened was that George, who had published Edith’s stories in the magazine he edits, “Ecotone,” simply liked her work enough to want to help it find a larger audience. Maybe “simply” isn’t quite the operative word here, with all the complications of publishing and promoting a book, getting it into the hands of reviewers, and then the hands of readers. But the short version of what happened is this: Someone. Paid. Attention. Someone noticed that these stories were, indeed, very fine, worthy of much praise and wide readership.

I am extraordinarily happy for Edith (to whom I am eternally indebted for introducing me to Dr. D!). And her experience, I think, has something to teach us all. For writers the message is to stay true to what you do. For readers–and that includes the writers–honor the work that has been offered to you. Read it with open hearts and let it touch you: pay attention.

Edith will be reading from “Binocular Vision” this Tuesday at 7 at Brookline Booksmith. See you there.