Truth & Beauty

A Friendship

By: Ann Patchett

Narrated by: Ann Patchett

Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

The author of Bel Canto, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Orange Prize, and long-running New York Times best seller, turns to nonfiction in a moving chronicle of her decades-long friendship with the critically acclaimed and recently deceased author, Lucy Grealy.

What happens when the person who is your family is someone you aren't bound to by blood? What happens when that person is not your lover, but your best friend? In her frank and startlingly intimate first work of nonfiction, Truth & Beauty, Ann Patchett shines light on the little-explored world of women's friendships and shows us what it means to stand together.

Ann Patchett and Lucy Grealy met in college in 1981, and after enrolling in the Iowa Writer's Workshop began a friendship that would be as defining to both of their lives as their work. In her critically acclaimed memoir, Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy wrote about the first half of her life. In Truth & Beauty, the story isn't Lucy's life or Ann's life but the parts of their lives they shared together. This is a portrait of unwavering commitment that spans 20 years, from the long cold winters of the Midwest to surgical wards to book parties in New York. Through love, fame, drugs, and despair, this is what it means to be part of two lives that are intertwined.

This is a tender, brutal book about loving the person we cannot save. It is about loyalty and about being lifted up by the sheer effervescence of someone who knew how to live life to the fullest.

Don't miss our free Ann Patchett interview. Patchett is an Audible CelebrityListener - find out what she's listening to here.

©2004 Ann Patchett (P)2004 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Alex Award Winner, 2005

"This gorgeously written chronicle unfolds as an example of how friendships can contain more passion and affection than any in the romantic realm." (Publishers Weekly)
"An electrifyingly intimate portrait of a remarkable human being, and a profoundly insightful chronicle of an incandescent friendship." (Booklist)

It got better....

I rarely give up on a book and I almost did with Truth and Beauty. I am a fan of other Patchett books, Bel Canto, Magician's Assistant, State of Wonder...but this one, was too much, just too much of this back and forth between these two mostly unhappy people. I find it hard to believe that Patchett would want to write about every conversation, every sad call yet perhaps if I had read Lucy Grealy's book I may feel otherwise. The book did begin to hold my interest as it progressed, but for me overall, I guess it was just too depressing.
I must say however that Lucy Grealy was an amazing woman it seems at least from her friend's account. And to have such a friendship, what a gift for Ann and Lucy.

Touching

Ann Patchett never disappoints! Fabulous writer! This is a Brilliant & extraordinary story of her best friend Lucy. What a character Lucy was! At 10 yrs old she developed a large cancerous facial tumor. Multiple surgeries & medical problems never stopped her from living a very BIG life. I would love to ask Ann more questions about Lucy. What was her relationship with her mother? Her Family? Just to name a few.. I highly recommend this book about a relentless spirit & an enduring friendship that was inspiring.

A moving story about friendship, addiction and love

I read this for extra credit assigned by my professor and never expected the story to be so touching. It really is a representation of human connection and the reality of drug abuse for some

Loving Lucy

Patchett’s love and respect for Lucy shone through the words of her memoir, and her account of their friendship brought Lucy to life for me. The brave way Lucy moved forth is something to be admired, and the kind of friends she and Ann were to each other are the kind anyone would be lucky to have. I appreciated hearing their story in Patchett’s voice-wise, humorous and humble.

You can afford a hundred bucks

You can afford a hundred bucks for a truly first-class literary experience, can?t you? Good.

Go to audible.com, and give them your credit card info. When your audible player comes, download Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett. Wait for a rainy day, and soak up some real pleasure.

This is a book by a woman, about her incredible friendship with another incredible woman?read by the author herself. If you are not interested in women, don?t bother.

Patchett easy to listen to

I find it difficult to listen to some authors reading their own books, but not Anne Patchett. And this is a mesmerizing portrait of a brilliant mind and fascinating personality being slowly whittled down. A beautiful testament to a truly great friendship.

Good

This was a really good listen. The reader was smooth and a pleasure to listen to. The story was good and well written. I looked forward to listening whenever I had a chance. I recommend this book.

Beautiful love story!

Nobody can tell a story like Ann Patchett, and I loved her narration. I’m not sure I could love and support someone as broken as Lucy was, but I do want to be that kind of person.

Surprisingly unemotional!

I purchased this book because I had previously read Ann Patchett's novel Patron Saint of Liars and loved it, and I was interested in the subject of friendship and her take on what I imagined might prove to be a rather enmeshed or difficult one. I anticipated a sad ending (won't give away any details) but was surprised that my reaction wasn't very emaotional..I don't know if it was Ann Patchett's rather dry delivery or her more cerebral approach to the writing of the memoir..at one point in the book she speaks humorously of 'repression' as a coping mechanism, so maybe that is the reason. No matter why, I found it to be a fascinating exploration of her relationship with Lucy Grealy, and it gave me lots of subject matter for my armchair psychoanalyst mind to peruse. I was never bored, and was grateful for the opportunity to get inside the mind and heart of an author whom I admire very much. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in relationships, addiction, depression, writing, codependency, or Ann Patchett.

Honest glimpse into an intimate female friendship

I found this a riveting account of a 20 year friendship. Given that this is a very personal story, it seems fitting that the author should be the one to narrate it; and Patchett does this unusually well for an author. I admired Patchett's courage in writing about such a personal experience. I loved Lucy, despite her flaws, and felt incredible dismay that someone so talented should die so young at her own hand. I felt the utter helplessness of those who watch someone plummet into addiction - unable to stop them, but doing their best to be there. Most of all, I feel grateful for Patchett's honest account of female friendship. I recommend this book to those who are interested in the nature and bounds of female friendship. There is much in this book that will stay with me for a very long time.