Ann Patchett Writes 'The Best Book Ever'?
Tom LakeTom LakeI’m one of those readers who, for whichever book she happens to be reading, thinks THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER! I’ve read about a book a week this summer—A Spy Among Friends, Two Nights in Lisbon—and I’ve said it every time. Even the James Patterson/Dolly Parton duo’s commercial Run Rose, Run got my rapt attention. “Here,” I say to whomever’s passing me by, “read this one. IT’S THE BEST BOOK EVER.”
And yet… and yet, Ann Patchett’s latest, Tom Lake, really is the best book ever. Maybe I think this because it’s summer, and the book is set in summer. Maybe it’s because it’s about family, and first loves, and being nostalgic (or not) for times you can’t get back (which I’m very good at.) Or maybe it’s because Patchett, a PEN/Faulkner winner, is the Carol Shields of our time—a writer who can distill meaning from domestic life into a single, simple sentence. One phrase means the world.
Example: “There is no explaining this simple truth about life: you will forget much of it. The painful things you were certain you’d never be able to let go? Now you’re not entirely sure when they happened…” OR “The rage dissipates along with the love, and all we’re left with is a story.”
Set during the pandemic, Tom Lake is a mom telling her grown daughters a story while sequestered on their bucolic cherry farm in upper Michigan. The story is about one summer long ago while the mother acted in a summer stock theatre at Tom Lake. I won’t tell you much more, beyond that it’s a story about first loves and summer loves, parts of which most of us will relate to. Tom Lake is, of course, about much more than that—Chekov is in there somewhere. But that’s it in a nutshell, and that’s what Patchett is so good at: putting things in a nutshell.
So yeah. Here, read this. Tom Lake. It’s THE BEST BOOK EVER.
For more, read LORI'S STORIES free on Substack.
Lori Knowles is author of SUMMERS WITH MISS ELIZABETH debuting May 1, 2024. Pre-order now: www.loriknowles.com
And yet… and yet, Ann Patchett’s latest, Tom Lake, really is the best book ever. Maybe I think this because it’s summer, and the book is set in summer. Maybe it’s because it’s about family, and first loves, and being nostalgic (or not) for times you can’t get back (which I’m very good at.) Or maybe it’s because Patchett, a PEN/Faulkner winner, is the Carol Shields of our time—a writer who can distill meaning from domestic life into a single, simple sentence. One phrase means the world.
Example: “There is no explaining this simple truth about life: you will forget much of it. The painful things you were certain you’d never be able to let go? Now you’re not entirely sure when they happened…” OR “The rage dissipates along with the love, and all we’re left with is a story.”
Set during the pandemic, Tom Lake is a mom telling her grown daughters a story while sequestered on their bucolic cherry farm in upper Michigan. The story is about one summer long ago while the mother acted in a summer stock theatre at Tom Lake. I won’t tell you much more, beyond that it’s a story about first loves and summer loves, parts of which most of us will relate to. Tom Lake is, of course, about much more than that—Chekov is in there somewhere. But that’s it in a nutshell, and that’s what Patchett is so good at: putting things in a nutshell.
So yeah. Here, read this. Tom Lake. It’s THE BEST BOOK EVER.
For more, read LORI'S STORIES free on Substack.
Lori Knowles is author of SUMMERS WITH MISS ELIZABETH debuting May 1, 2024. Pre-order now: www.loriknowles.com
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