Brandice's Reviews > These Precious Days: Essays

I’ve been fortunate to have read several good short story and essay collections this year. These Precious Days is no exception and the best of those I’ve read in 2021 — All of the essays in this collection are at least good, almost all great.

Ann Patchett is a brilliant writer. She is able to capture simple elements of being human and make them interesting, something I suspect all writers strive to do and something she excels at.

“How other people live is pretty much all I think about. Curiosity is the rock upon which fiction is built.”

I read the title essay, “These Precious Days”, about Ann’s friendship with Sooki Raphael, assistant to Tom Hanks, earlier in 2021 when it was first published. I loved it and was excited to learn the essay would be part of a collection later in the year.

Typically when reading collections, some will resonate more than others and there may be a miss or two, but that was certainly not the case here. They were all great stories that held my interest. The subjects cover life and death, grief and joy, community, and some aspects of being an author and a bookshop owner. I found “Cover Stories” about Ann’s various book covers especially interesting as a reader, book lover, and specifically, an Ann fan. I thought it was funny that she referenced being mistaken for Anne Tyler on multiple occasions because they’re both great writers who capture human elements so well yet their stories are unique enough to be distinct.

These Precious Days is a collection I’m glad to have read, one I’ll definitely revisit, and one I highly recommend.
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Original review — April 2021

I read this essay today, previously published in Harper’s magazine about Ann Patchett’s friendship with Tom Hank’s assistant, Sooki Raphael. Sooki is of course more than Hank’s assistant, but this role is how Ann came to know her.

I love Ann Patchett, she’s a brilliant writer and while this essay is long — for an essay — it’s entirely worth it. Thanks to Debbie and Lisa and their reviews for first bringing this to my attention!

May be read here: https://harpers.org/archive/2021/01/t...