"You think of reading as the most solitary act," the bestselling author tells PEOPLE. "And it is, but it's also this huge point of connection."
Credit: Emily Dorio; Harper
NEED TO KNOW
- Ann Patchett reflects on what it means for her to be a good literary citizen as she tours for her new book Whistler
- Whistler is inspired by her friendship with the late Jim Fox and explores themes of friendship and reconnection
- Patchett emphasizes the importance of community among readers and the power of personal book recommendations
She may be a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Women's Prize for Fiction and most recently, the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, not to mention a prolific author and bookstore owner, but even Ann Patchett needs to give herself a good talking-to now and again.
"I used to violently hate book tour," the Whistler author confessed in an interview with PEOPLE. "And was very quick to discuss how much I hated it. And then before I went out for Tom Lake, I sat myself down and gave myself a big talking to and decided to change my mind and it worked amazingly well and it's still holding."
Part of that vibe shift was embracing the opportunity to connect with readers all across the country, and realizing how vanishingly rare that is.
"One of the things I've been thinking about a lot on this book tour is that anybody can write a novel and some people can get the novel published and, like, six people get to do this, what I'm doing," she added.
Patchett is currently on tour for her new book, Whistler (June 2, Harper), which follows Daphne Fuller, who reunites with her former stepfather, Eddie Triplett, with whom she forged a special bond as a child before a car crash changed the course of both of their lives forever. As adults, the pair come to know one another in a new way, in a novel that reads like a love letter to friendship and New York City as a character.
Credit: Noah Saterstrom, courtesy of HarperCollins
And it started that way, too: Patchett was inspired by her friendship with the late Jim Fox, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2024 on his 85th birthday. But she's careful to clarify that Fox lives in the spirit of the book, not its details.
"Jim is not Eddie. The facts of their lives are not the same or similar but it's Jim's voice and it's Jim's big, huge heart. Jim's love. That's what I put into the book," she said. "I do feel like this is the first really romantic novel I've written, and it's not about what we think of as romantic love. I just really wanted to write a book about love. And about specifically the love that I had for Jim and Jim had for me. And whenever I would come to New York, he would be the first person I would go to see and so I feel like my love for him and for other friends because most of my friends live in New York, it spills out onto the city."
Ever the bookseller, Patchett's favorite part about being on tour for Whistler isn't talking about the book — it's connecting with the people who form what she calls "the little country that readers make wherever they go."
"That's what it's all about," she says, of her own commitment to being a good literary citizen by shouting her favorites from the proverbial rooftops. "It's just all about reading and the community that comes from reading. You think of reading as the most solitary act. And it is, but it's also this huge point of connection."
For Patchett, whose Parnassus Books is as much a retailer as a third space — the kind of gathering place where bookworms of any age can come and just hang out and be together — recommending books isn't just part of the job, it's "the sacred covenant of readers."
Her favorite books, she added, are those she no longer has at home — because she's handed them to a loved one on their way out the door.
Credit: Emily Dorio
"A lot of people don't know where to turn. People are really looking for a recommendation. It's not like going to a restaurant where you want somebody to tell you what to eat," the bookseller explained.
"I just believe so much that the only thing that sells books is somebody saying, 'I just read this, you would love this' It's not ads. A television show, a radio show can make you aware that the book has been published, but the thing that sells it is if you read it and you turn around to your friend and say, 'You won't believe how amazing this is.'"
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Whistler is available now, wherever books are sold.
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