Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

Author Ann Patchett on friendship, time and the idea of 'enoughness'

Ann Patchett and her essay book, "These Precious Days"
Ann Patchett just released a new collection of essays. “These Precious Days” touch on everything from friendship to time to how life during the pandemic has forced us to examine if we are really living.
Book cover courtesy of Harper | Author photo by Heidi Ross

“Nothing is more interesting than time,” writes Ann Patchett in her new book, “the days that are endless, the days that get away.”

Time during the pandemic has somehow flattened. At the beginning, it lost its punctuation — going to work, traveling for a trip, gatherings with family. Even now, it feels both endless and forgettable.

But Patchett believes that, because this is the moment we have, this is the moment we should embrace. In her latest collection of essays, “These Precious Days,” she illuminates this truth through the lens of friendship, death, grief, choices and presence.

Host Kerri Miller had a warm and wide-ranging conversation with Patchett about her book and what she’s learned during the pandemic.

Guest:

Use the audio player above to listen to the author interview.

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