Particularize Books To Truth and Beauty
Original Title: | Truth & Beauty: A Friendship |
ISBN: | 0060572159 (ISBN13: 9780060572150) |
Edition Language: | English |
Characters: | Ann Patchett, Lucy Grealy |
Literary Awards: | ALA Alex Award (2005), Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Nonfiction (2004) |
Ann Patchett
Paperback | Pages: 257 pages Rating: 3.95 | 33971 Users | 3033 Reviews
Narrative Supposing Books Truth and Beauty
Ann Patchett and the late Lucy Grealy met in college in 1981, and, after enrolling in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, began a friendship that would be as defining to both of their lives as their work. In Grealy’s critically acclaimed memoir Autobiography of a Face, she wrote about losing part of her jaw to childhood cancer, years of chemotherapy and radiation, and endless reconstructive surgeries. In Truth and Beauty, the story isn’t Lucy’s life or Ann’s life but the parts of their lives they shared. This is a portrait of unwavering commitment that spans twenty years, from the long winters of the Midwest to surgical wards to book parties in New York. Through love, fame, drugs, and despair, this is what it means to be part of two lives that are intertwined--and what happens when one is left behind.Declare Based On Books Truth and Beauty
Title | : | Truth and Beauty |
Author | : | Ann Patchett |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 257 pages |
Published | : | April 5th 2005 by Harper Perennial (first published May 1st 2004) |
Categories | : | Autobiography. Memoir. Nonfiction. Biography |
Rating Based On Books Truth and Beauty
Ratings: 3.95 From 33971 Users | 3033 ReviewsNotice Based On Books Truth and Beauty
My poor review has nothing to do with Patchett's writing ability. I found the story very disturbing, I couldn't understand other than her writing accolades what Patchett got out of this unhealthy friendship. Lucy was such a negative, manipulative person that her 'looks' to me were very much beside the point.Oh, my experience rereading this book was so different from my first reading ten years ago. Back then, I don't think I'd read any Ann Patchett yet--I'd read Lucy Grealy's Autobiography of a Face and wanted to know more about her and how she died. Even though Ann was doing the telling, I saw this as Lucy's story.Fast forward ten years: I've now read and loved three of Ann Patchett's novels and a fair amount of her nonfiction pieces. I'm a fan. Rereading Truth and Beauty, I'm much more interested
Okay, I'm gonna come out and say something earnest here, in a short break from the usual foul-mouthed cynicism. I think books ought to have courage; I think memoirs, out of all books, must have courage. And this one doesn't.This is supposed to be the story of a twenty-year friendship between two women writers, but in reality this is just a book about Lucy Grealy, the girl who lost most of her face to cancer, the eventual darling of the New York literary scene, the heroin addict. The cowardice
I was very interested to read about Lucy Grealy, a brilliant poet who died at 39. But from the very beginning Patchett uses a style that greatly annoyed me and which - by want of a more suitable word - I can only describe as 'passive-aggressive-praise'. By that I mean showering constant praise on someone (Lucy) and always affirming that this person is more talented than the one giving the praise (Ann), and more intelligent, more fun, more everything. But the praise is laced with tiny, almost
Awful. Both obsequious and patronizing. Touted as a memoir of friendship. But, sweet Mary, I would not want either of the women as my friend.
Raw and next to life... this is what fiction should be! I enjoyed reading your work, Ann!
i had never read ann patchett nor had i ever read a book where the muse was a friend. there's something so rich and unmined about friendship, especially-I think-between women. I loved this. Every page.
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