Book Review: TRUTH & BEAUTY, by Ann Patchett
February 14, 2007
Lately I’ve been surrounded by good books, and I’m glad for that. TRUTH & BEAUTY took me all of two days to read, heart-wrenching and gorgeous as it is, and for those two days I was completely absorbed in Patchett’s telling of her friendship with Lucy Grealy, an author as known for the cancer that left her disfigured and subject to several failed surgeries as for her memoir, Autobiography of a Face. (Here is an article Patchett wrote about Grealy, which roughly resembles the first chapter of TRUTH & BEAUTY.)
My friend Anne recommended TRUTH & BEAUTY to me, and after reading (and loving) Patchett’s Bel Canto, I stored T&B away for some day when I would be perfectly in the mood for a story I anticipated being both beautiful and sad. It is both, and Patchett moves gracefully through her friendship with Grealy, telling their story with a certain valuable clarity: the book is more about Lucy than about Ann, who appears only in proximity to Lucy and rarely in scenes where Lucy is not the focus of the narrative. There is a sense of humility in how Patchett writes about Grealy.
I have not read Autobiography of a Face yet, but I’m looking forward to it. I will say that, as the writing goes, I enjoyed Bel Canto better than TRUTH & BEAUTY, but the stories are both very different, and difficult to compare.
RATING:4
Entry Filed under: Book Review, Memoir/Biography, Nonfiction. Tags: Ann Patchett, Bel Canto.
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1.
Katie | February 18, 2007 at 5:54 pm
i’ll be interested to hear what you think about face … i’ve read it twice in the last five years for different reasons. still not sure how i feel about it.
i read a book recently that i thought you’d enjoy: the solace of leaving early by haven kimmel (i think that’s her name — i don’t have the book in front of me).
also, have you read the brothers k yet? i just can’t remember … and for some reason it’s on my mind today.
2.
Thea | February 18, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Yes! I read Kimmel and liked it a lot. I even reviewed it sometime last summer, but if you search my blog for Haven Kimmel, it should come up.
No, alas, I haven’t read The Brothers K yet–you’ve been telling me to forever and I just haven’t, I don’t know why. I’ve been looking forward to it, but somehow haven’t come across a copy yet. Soon.
3.
Kelly | April 13, 2007 at 7:24 pm
I am currently struggling through this book. I just can’t seem to get into it!
4.
trish | January 23, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Interesting. I just finished reading (and reviewing on my blog) The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchet. I first read Bel Canto by her (which is in my top 3 books of all time) and then read The Patron Saint of Liars, which was very good. The Magician’s Assistant, while great, had a rather bizarre ending that I didn’t feel flowed with the rest of the book. I was disappointed because it didn’t make me want to read more from her, but perhaps I’ll try T&B some day…
5.
TheaR | January 24, 2008 at 1:39 am
I’ve only read T&B and Bel Canto, but I’ve been looking forward to reading more of Patchett’s fiction - Bel Canto was AWESOME, I agree. I’d definitely recommend T&B, though. It’s a good one, if not as good as BC.