“This is the Story of a Happy Marriage” by Ann Patchett – Love and Literature

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett (Book Cover)
Most of us know Ann Patchett for her greatest masterpiece, Bel Canto (at least according to popular opinion), but the truth is that so far, she had a very long and eventful literary career, and stretching even further, an eventful life in general.

Deciding to share at least some of the wonders she experienced during her time on Earth, Patchett decided to write an autobiographical book, and it is titled This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.

Contrary to what the title would have you believe, the work touches on a whole array of different subjects apart from her marriage, and perhaps coincidentally, many of them have something to do with literature in one way or another.

So what kinds of things do we actually learn from the book about Patchett?

Well, just to give you a simple idea, she tells us about the important childhood experiences which shaped her, the period in her life spent working as a freelance writer for rather famous publications, what it’s like to open up your own bookstore, who the impactful people in her life are/were, and a lot more.

All in all, though it is obvious Patchett decided to skip certain chunks of her life, we do get to learn about the more important things throughout its duration. From time to time, Patchett even delves into the smaller details, perhaps in order to help bring into context the larger ones. In the end though, all of her experiences lead to the demonstration of one thing: how she came to be the person she is today.

From a technical perspective, Ann Patchett truly has a very charming voice, being light and simple all while conveying many details which help to set the overall atmosphere.

Much of her humor here is self-deprecating, and though there are a few “loud” instances, I felt that she refrained from the “in-your-face” style of comedy many writers are inexplicably going for these days. The jokes will make you laugh more often than not, and the more touching moments will make you stop and ponder about your own path.

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett (Book Cover)
All in all, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage is one of the more interesting autobiographies out there, and though it doesn’t detail any truly extraordinary events, on the whole it is a very complete project, dealing with the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development of the author with a healthy dose of humor.

I definitely recommend it to those who want to learn more about the author, or enjoy reading others’ life stories in general.


Ann Patchett (Author)

Ann Patchett


Personal site

Ann Patchett is a writer of American origin. She received numerous awards and accolades, the most prominent ones being the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2002 for her masterpiece, and some say her magnum opus, Bel Canto.


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