-Our next guest
is an award-winning and best-selling author
whose latest novel, "The Dutch House,"
was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
for fiction and is currently available
in paperback. Please welcome to the show,
Ann Patchett. Hello, Ann!
How are you? -I'm good, Seth. How are you?
-I'm good. You know, often,
when we have authors on, they will have their books
on the bookshelf behind them, but I really have to
tip my cap to you having the entire artwork of the cover of your book
behind you. -Isn't that something? It's really fabulous. It's a great painting. -Did you know artist before they did the cover
for your book? -Yeah, this is my friend
Noah Saterstrom. I'm in Nashville. Noah lives in Nashville, and I had a really clear idea
of what I wanted on the cover of the book,
so I just called my friend, and I was like,
"These are the two paragraphs that describe the painting that should be
on the cover of the book." And he painted it. -The times where
I've asked for things that -- you know, because I cannot draw. I have no artistic ability. When I have presented
a guidance like that and when it comes back,
it's like most exciting thing in the world,
when you see art. -Oh, yeah.
Amazing. And also, it was one of those
things where I thought, "Well, you know,
it could work, or it could not work,
and if it doesn't work, so what? I've commissioned a painting from somebody whose work
I really love, and it won't be
the book jacket." And he did it
in four days. Noah has three tiny children, so when he gets a commission, he needs to just get to work
really fast and concentrate, and he did this painting
in four days. -That makes me even angrier
at his talents. -Yeah, no, it's crazy. And now it's on tote bags, and they screened it
onto cookies and refrigerator magnets. The cover is really, like,
the highlight of the whole book. -Ah, you're selling
yourself short. I feel like
both are the highlight. But I also wanted
to talk about -- You mentioned
you're in Nashville. You have a bookstore there --
Parnassus Books -- and I'm wondering
how the pandemic -- I know that it was
a very warm place where you would host
a lot of events. What has business been like at a time where people are
obviously reading a lot more, but it's less social
to go to a bookstore? -Well, we were closed
until the middle of October. We were America's
most cautious bookstore, and the whole thing is really
kind of heartwarming and amazing in that people
not only in Nashville but all across the country -- and in some cases,
all across the world -- started ordering
their books from us. So we turned into sort of
a Santa's workshop vibe. Were just shipping, packaging books
around the clock -- and I do mean around the clock. And certainly,
business was down in 2020, but we survived. We didn't lay anybody off. Everybody still has a job,
and now, we're letting ten people
into the store at a time. So, you know,
it's a great story. It's very heartwarming. -You mentioned that you haven't had to lay off
any staff, which is great. And I know your sister
works there as well, correct? -Yeah. My sister Heather decided -- I don't know, it was like
a year and a half ago that she just wanted
a really calm job. She just wanted a job that was gonna take her
into retirement, and she wouldn't bring
her work home with her, and the job as the person who's the head of shipping
opened up. She had been in fundraising
her whole life. She was like,
"It's too stressful." So she became
our shipping manager. And then, it turns out that
all we did was shipping. And so, suddenly,
Heather was working until 4:00 in the morning. I would go over late at night and we would just
stick labels on boxes with our dogs
all night long. It was good.
It was good. -Well, again, I'm someone
who has been very happy when books have shown up
during this pandemic, and I've also been very happy any time someone has
recommended them. You have an Instagram account. It's the bookstore's, and you've been giving
book recommendations. Is that something
you enjoy doing? -Yeah, you know,
it's all about pivoting, right? You know, it's all about
kind of figuring out how to keep
your business alive. I am not on
any kind of social media. I am somebody who has never
looked at Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or any of it. It's just never been my thing. And so, now, I am on instagram,
but the trick is, I have never looked at it. So a couple times a week,
I go over, and I make these
really short videos, usually wearing evening wear, in which I cuddle with a book
for 20 seconds and talk about
how fantastic it is. And it's great, because if people can't
come into the bookstore, It's really hard for them
to know what's new and what's fabulous out there. So that's my job.
It's a good job. -Well, let me just tell you,
you're really missing out on social media. It is just
a real pleasant place. -You know, I hear it about crack
all the time, too. It's just amazingly good, and I should try it
just a little bit to see. -Yeah, and if you don't
like it, walk away. [ Laughter ] -It's not like I was on
social media and I stopped. I just never got on. I also don't have a cellphone. -Yes.
-I am just a dinosaur. -You know, I think
a lot of people maybe went into the pandemic hoping they would read
a lot of the books that they've been wanting to
get around to and instead watched
every television show that was on
every streaming service. This is another thing you have not dipped
your toes in for years. -I don't do.
I read a lot. I write a lot and I read a lot,
and I live my life. And I'm sure that
I'm missing out on amazing things, but for me to go back
and catch the wave of the Golden Age
of television -- I haven't watched
"The Sopranos." I haven't watched
"Breaking Bad." I'm so far behind,
at this point, I could never
catch up. -Yeah, I think,
at this point, just bail. I think the path you're on
is the right path. Hey, I hope you don't mind -- I wanted to ask about this
wonderful essay you wrote -- I think in "The New Yorker" --
about your three fathers. Am I right that it was
in "The New Yorker"? And I think it was
your sister's wedding that your father
and then the two husbands your mom married
after your father -- it was the only time
they were all together, and you took
a picture with them. And I think it was -- You'll have to correct. One of them said,
"She only wants this picture so that she can write about us
when we're dead." Um... Which you did. -[ Laughing ] You know,
that was actually really true. When I found out that
all three of my fathers were gonna be
at my sister's wedding, I asked them in advance
if I could have a picture with the three of them,
and I didn't think that they would say yes,
and they did. This was in 2005. I had just gotten married. And they said yes,
and we got this picture, and while we were
setting it up, my stepfather Mike
said to the other two, "You know
why she's doing this? She's doing this
because one day, when all three of us are dead, she's going to write a piece
about us for 'The New Yorker,' and this is going to be
the illustration." And he was right. I mean, that was exactly
what I was thinking about. I wasn't wishing
for their death. I wasn't anticipating it, but, you know,
you want to be prepared. I have to say,
your dad sounds great. When I was listening to you
talk about your dad, I was thinking, "Oh, man, I wonder if he'd give me
notes on a book. He sounds great." -My dad said,
"If you ever write about me, do it before I die
so i can give you notes." [ Laughter ] -That's good.
-Do you feel like -- My last question is, do you -- I think -- and particularly
the way you write about Mike -- he seemed to understand
who you were as a writer -- but do you feel like a lot
of people in your life are, in the back of their heads
when they interact with you, thinking, "Oh, this will be
an experience that Ann will write about
one day"? -No, I am not Pat Conroy. You know, Pat Conroy
famously was thrown out of his mother's death room
because she said, "You're just gonna
write about this." I'm not that person. I mean, I really am
a novelist, and I write some essays -- this year, I've just been doing
nothing but writing essays -- but if I do write about people, I always ask
permission first -- or wait till they're dead. -[ Laughs ]
Well, thank you so much, and feel free
to write about this. You have my full permission.
-Thank you. -Since I know
you won't watch it, I feel like the least you can do
is write an essay about it. Thanks so much. It's lovely
to see you again, Ann. -Good to see you, Seth.
Take care. -"The Dutch House" is available
wherever books are sold, but please support
independent bookstores like Ann's Parnassus Books
in Nashville.
