Details
Synopsis
Novelist Ann Patchett writes movingly about her longtime friend and fellow writer Lucy Grealy, author of AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FACE, who died at the age of 39. Disfigured as a child by a rare form of cancer known as Ewing's Sarcoma, Grealy grew up to be difficult, needy, depressed, volatile, drug-addicted, chronically hard-up--and a completely rewarding individual. Patchett quotes from her friend's letters and poetry to construct a warm and rounded picture of an amazing, heartbreaking woman. But what's most extraordinary about her book, aside from the appealing lucidity of Patchett's writing, is the light it sheds on what ideal friendship can be--in this case, passionate, committed, and admirably non-judgmental.
| Size | | Length: | 256 pages | | Height: | 8.8 in | | Width: | 5.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.8 in | | Weight: | 15.2 oz |
Publisher's Notes
First Line: "The thing you can count on in life is that Tennessee will always be scorching hot in August. In 1985 you could also pretty much count on the fact that the U-Haul truck you rented to drive from Tennessee to Iowa, cutting up through Missouri, would have no air-conditioning or that the air-conditioning would be broken. These are the things I knew for sure when I left home to start graduate school."
Industry Reviews
"A tough and loving tribute, hard to put down, impossible to forget."
Kirkus (03/01/2004)
"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 (03/29/2004)
"TRUTH & BEAUTY is a harrowing document, composed in a spare, forthright style very different from the elegant artifice of Patchett's best-known novels....It can be no surprise that the memoir of a friendship that ends in the premature death of a gifted writer does not make for cheerful reading. And yet there is much in TRUTH & BEAUTY that is uplifting, a testament to the perennial idealism and optimism of the young."
New York Times Book Review - Joyce Carol Oates (05/16/2004)
"If Patchett's book doesn't quite stand on its own, it is a moving companion to Grealy's (AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FACE]."
New Yorker (07/12/2004)
"...TRUTH AND BEAUTY races toward its unavoidable conclusion with novelistic speed. Grief-laden in the immediate aftermath of Lucy's death, it is not a story that can end happily, despite the companionship--and comedy--it contains....Equal parts personal catharsis and work of art, Ann Patchett's beautifully executed book is sincerely inscribed with Lucy's inordinate value as a friend, and pays tribute to her as a fellow writer."
Times Literary Supplement - Lucy Daniel (10/08/2004)
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