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Saturday, June 16, 2001
I'm trying something new this time: instead of writing my report as soon as I get home
and I'm completely exhausted, I've waited until Sunday to see if my mood can improve with
a little sleep in my own bed. Everything is good at home. The tomato plant is as tall as I
am and has about a dozen green tomatoes on it. My friend Manette tells me that sometimes
tomato plants get confused and put all of their energy into making beautiful plants
instead of beautiful tomatoes, and I think this might be the case. I'm thinking of digging
it up and putting it in a pot in the living room. Such a fine looking plant. The dog is
getting fat staying with my grandmother. She's a little moody and crawls under the sofa
when I bring the suitcase out. Still, I have never found her more delightful. Book tour
has had an "It's a Wonderful Life" affect on me. By removing me from my life and
then letting me come back briefly to see how the world looks, I've fallen madly in love
with everything. I bought this house at Christmas and for the first time I can see how
lucky I am to have it. My family has been incredibly kind to me. I am completely in love
with Karl. I want to sing the praises of the tomatoes and the dog. Let us now praise
famous dogs.
But this isn't supposed to be about tomatoes and dogs. Book tour. Book tour isn't going to
get better, but I can try and be a little more positive about things. For example, last
Sunday I spoke at the opening of the new downtown public library in Nashville, and that
was lovely. It is a gorgeous library, and the crowd was very nice. Everyone came up to me
and said, "I haven't read any of your books but I love your mother's book." Good
to know Mom is drumming up a little business for me. I've been hawking the new paperback
of JULIE AND ROMEO out on the road.
Monday I got up at five, dropped off the dog, and took myself to the airport, only to find
out that the flight had been canceled. I drove home and went back to bed, which was maybe
the smartest thing I've ever done in my life. At noon I caught a flight into New York and
was in pretty good shape. I'm becoming increasingly attached to my publicist, Jane Beirn,
who kindly took me from place to place and made me feel very cared for. There were lots of
interviews, the highlight of which was getmusic.com, where I met a woman who is friends
with Rene Fleming. I signed a book and she mailed it to Rene in Paris. My book and Rene
Fleming in the same room! It thrills me to think of it. I read Tuesday night at Barnes
& Noble, and we had a good crowd, lots of old friends, no ex-boyfriends. It went very
well until the end when I fell off the little stage, broke the heel off my shoe and
bloodied my favorite knee. There was a nice dinner afterwards that my dear editor Robert
Jones gave for me. It's all a little bit like going to your own wedding. You see everyone
you love for two minutes and feel both happy to see people and guilty for neglecting them.
Wednesday I read at Diane's in Greenwich. The place was packed, the crowd very
enthusiastic, and at the end they all stood up and said they would go straight to the
library and check the book out. I don't mind this, except it's Greenwich, where a glass of
good Chardonnay can be $25 in a restaurant. I had dinner with my old friend Marti and then
slumped down in the back of a town car and went back to the city feeling like a very
minor, very burnt out rock star. Back at the hotel, Karl and I watched the Lakers' game
together via long distance. Not all of it, but it was comforting.
Bored yet? It is boring. I'm not sure there's a way to make it not be boring. Still the
most interesting part of the trip was Denver. I got up at five again, flew to Denver,
spent 30 seconds on the local mid-day news program (I followed a minor race car driver
with a good tan.) I went back to the hotel, slept, and then went to the Tattered Cover
where there were eight people, a figure that includes the woman who organized the readings
and my media escort. This deserves a minute of discussion. It is a long way to Denver, and
it costs a fortune. They had scheduled Ethan Canin into their other store for the
same time slot and let me tell you, if I had a choice between going to see me or going to
see him, I would go to see him. So, this all sounds pretty dreadful, except for the fact
that these eight people were the nicest eight people I'd met in a long time. We just sat
in the folding chairs and talked for almost two hours. They were smart and seemed very
glad I had come. One woman there paid me a compliment so kind it brought tears to my eyes.
So, the awful trip to Denver wound up being pretty moving. I also got to stay in the Brown
Palace, which is a strange and lovely hotel. I got a lot of reading done on THE
FITZGERALDS AND THE KENNEDYS, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a book so large I suspect I will be
reading it for the rest of my life. Even I can see the positive spin starting to strain.
The original plan was to fly me on to San Francisco and store me there until I have to
read on Tuesday, but those are the circumstances under which I tend to have complete
nervous breakdowns, so I flew home instead. Saturday night we attended the wedding of the
beautiful Jean Davis and her husband, Andy Brosnan. It was a huge, tented affair, all good
music and champagne and big peach colored roses. Karl and I got very dressed up and we
danced. I shook hands all night with people who had no idea who I am or what I do. It felt
great.
Please visit my website at www.annpatchett.com.
--- Ann Patchett
(c)
Copyright 2001, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
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