Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


“We had made a fetish out of our misfortune, fallen in love with it.”

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

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I’ve had The Dutch House (2019) by Ann Patchett sitting on my hold list at the library for literal ages. It’s been available numerous times, but I kept postponing it because there was always something more pressing or exciting to read. Finally, I saw it again when I was looking for audiobooks to read and a familiar name caught my eye. Tom Hanks was the narrator of the audiobook! I usually like to read my literature myself, but I’m also a fan of Tom Hanks, so I […]

The Illusions we create aren’t all Magic

The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett

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This is one of Ann Patchett’s earlier novels. The book begins with Sabine holding onto Parsifal, toe. Parsifal has just had an aneurysm.  Born in Connecticut, his family died in a car crash when he was young. Parsifal was a successful rug merchant and a part-time magician Sabine  was his assistant for about 20 years. She was in love with him, but he was gay. Phan, his partner, and Sabine lived together in Los Angeles. Phan died of AIDS, after Phan’s death, Parsifal was diagnosed […]

“And so I made the decision to change. It might seem like change was impossible, given my nature and my age, but I understood exactly what there was to lose. It was chemistry all over again. The point wasn’t whether or not I liked it. The point was it had to be done.”

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

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In one word: Bummer Cannonball Read Bingo: People I haven’t read any Ann Patchett previously; I could have sworn that I read Bel Canto but Goodreads shows it is in my “to read,” and I consider it a better history-keeper than my memory. I’m a big sucker for a book with accolades, so the “Pultizer finalist” sticker on the cover had my heart. I picked it up as it was the monthly selection of my library book club. In my estimation, this is both a […]

I honestly would have enjoyed just reading about what it’s like to be an opera singer

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

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A group of international businesspeople, government leaders, and ambassadors gather together in the house of the vice president of an unspecified South American country to celebrate the birthday of one Mr. Hosokawa, a Japanese businessman. The vice president and the businesspeople of the South American country are trying to impress Mr. Hosokawa and convince him to set up factories and invest in their county. Mr. Hosokawa is only there because he will get to hear Roxanne Coss, world renowned opera soprano, sing. Mr. Hosokawa is […]

The Ant and the Grasshopper Can Be Friends

Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett

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I was inspired to pick up Ann Patchett’s memoir Truth and Beauty: A Friendship after reading her essay These Precious Days, which was recently published in Harper’s magazine. The two works run in parallel, both telling the stories of Patchett’s friendship with someone whose life is arguably more interesting (and certainly more dramatic), who is sick, and who Patchett helps through that illness. Truth and Beauty follows the friendship between Patchett and the writer Lucy Grealy for nearly twenty years.  They attend the same college […]

Once upon a time there was a house…

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

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The Dutch House is a novel that has a fairy tale vibe to it. The house is, of course, central to the story and it’s kind of like a castle — it has a history of its own and a presence in the community. The Dutch House is a sign of wealth and a connection to the main characters’ past. Author Ann Patchett also gives the reader an evil stepmother, a missing queen, and a father/king who seems caught up in his material wealth while […]



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