Ann Patchett and Richard Russo speaking at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 2023.
One of my favorite authors, Ann Patchett, spoke last night at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as part of the book tour for her brand new novel, Tom Lake. She was joined by Richard Russo, who also just released a new book, Somebody’s Fool.
The format of the evening was really interesting. Instead of talking about their novels, Ann and Richard basically had a conversation about writing in general. They talked about things like book structure, the writers’ strike in Hollywood, and whether each preferred writing fiction or nonfiction. (Ann: non-fiction. Richard: fiction.)
Then they answered some questions from the audience, and we all went home. Even though they didn’t talk much about their new books in any detail, I will definitely be reading both.
During their conversation about writing, they drifted to the subject of “What’s the point?” As in, with so much going on in the world, does making up stories and creating novels really make a difference to anyone? Maybe there’s something else they should be doing that would “matter” more? It’s definitely a big question, and one that each had clearly thought about A LOT.
But in the end, Ann simply said “Art is a relief.”
Yup. There it is. She nailed it. Art is a relief. It’s a relief for the person making the art, and for everyone who experiences what has been created.
What could possibly be more important than that?