
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
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Narrated by:
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Ann Patchett
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By:
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Ann Patchett
About this listen
Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage takes us into the very real world of Ann Patchett's life. Stretching from her childhood to the present day, from a disastrous early marriage to a later happy one, it covers a multitude of topics, including relationships with family and friends, and charts the hard work and joy of writing, and the unexpected thrill of opening a bookstore.
As she shares stories of the people, places, ideals, and art to which she has remained indelibly committed, Ann Patchett brings into focus the large experiences and small moments that have shaped her as a daughter, wife, and writer.
©2013 Ann Patchett (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Readable and candid, Patchett’s collection is a joyful celebration of life, love and the written word." (Kirkus Reviews)
"Reading Patchett is like spending time with a deeply perceptive longtime pal, or a new friend that one instantly connects with." (USA Today)
"[A] sparkling collection." (The New Yorker)
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Story
One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny's mother, Beverly - thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.
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Patchett and Me--In-sympatico
- By Mel on 09-18-16
By: Ann Patchett
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The Dutch House
- A Novel
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Tom Hanks
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother.
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Not my favorite Patchett
- By Regina on 12-07-19
By: Ann Patchett
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Happiness: A Memoir
- The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After
- By: Heather Harpham
- Narrated by: Heather Harpham
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Happiness begins with a charming courtship between hopelessly attracted opposites: Heather, a world-roaming California girl, and Brian, an intellectual, homebody writer, kind and slyly funny, but loath to leave his Upper West Side studio. Their magical interlude ends, full stop, when Heather becomes pregnant - Brian is sure he loves her, only he doesn't want kids. Heather returns to California to deliver their daughter alone, buoyed by family and friends.
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Long & Tedious. If Only She'd Had a Good Editor.
- By Carolyn on 07-05-18
By: Heather Harpham
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Tom Lake
- A Novel
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Meryl Streep
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
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So incredibly boring
- By Rhonda Morrison on 08-05-23
By: Ann Patchett
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Lambslide
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Nicolette Farmer is running for class president, and the rest of the Farmer family tells her she’ll win by a landslide. A pack of overconfident lambs mistakenly hear lambslide and can’t believe there’s a slide made just for them. But when they can’t find one on the farm, there’s only one thing left to do: take a vote! They campaign. They bargain. They ask all the other animals if they, too, would like a lambslide.
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Short and Sweet. And good.
- By Susanna Goodin on 08-05-23
By: Ann Patchett
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Abide with Me
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Strout
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In the late 1950s, in a small New England town, Reverend Tyler Caskey has suffered a terrible loss and finds it hard to be the person he once was. He struggles to find the right words in his sermons and in his conversations with those facing crises of their own, and to bring his five-year-old daughter, Katherine, out of the silence she has observed in the wake of the family’s tragedy.
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Understated and powerful
- By Kathryn on 10-18-07
By: Elizabeth Strout
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Still Lives
- A Novel
- By: Maria Hummel
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Kim Lord is an avant garde figure, feminist icon, and agent provocateur in the LA art scene. Her groundbreaking new exhibition, Still Lives, is comprised of self-portraits depicting herself as famous murdered women - the Black Dahlia, Chandra Levy, Nicole Brown Simpson, among many others - and the works are as compelling as they are disturbing, implicating a culture that is too accustomed to violence against women.
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Second fail from Reese
- By jestans on 08-12-18
By: Maria Hummel
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Heat and Light
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Haigh
- Narrated by: Michael Rahhal, Allyson Ryan
- Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Forty years ago, Bakerton coal fueled the country. Then the mines closed, and the town wore away like a bar of soap. Now Bakerton has been granted a surprise third act: It sits squarely atop the Marcellus Shale, a massive deposit of natural gas. To drill or not to drill? Prison guard Rich Devlin leases his mineral rights to finance his dream of farming. He doesn't count on the truck traffic and nonstop noise, his brother's skepticism, or the paranoia of his wife, Shelby, who insists the water smells strange and is poisoning their frail daughter.
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Sigh
- By Susan Gardner Bowers on 07-10-16
By: Jennifer Haigh
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Escape Goat
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The Farmer family has a big problem! Every day, their goat escapes, and every day, Mr. Farmer brings him back. So when things start to go awry on the farm, it must be the goat’s fault. Who’s to blame when Mrs. Farmer’s petunias are trampled? Or when all the cupcakes for Archie’s party disappear? And when the whole bucket of paint is spilled? Of course, everyone blames the goat! But is it really his fault?
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Great story
- By michelle on 11-07-20
By: Ann Patchett
What listeners say about This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
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- Laurie
- 05-08-15
Les Astray
I felt that Ms Patchett made her voice more southern and therefore more racially profiled as she read. It sways her audience. Not allowing the listener come to their own conclusions about attitude.
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- Marie
- 02-07-14
Wonderful, Author-narrated stories
What did you love best about This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage?
So many well-told tales! Non-fiction, collected writings from the many publications which supported the author as she nurtured her fiction writing career. What treat to hear so many rich experiences. Loved the tale of her Parnassus (independent) Book Store in Nashville!
Have you listened to any of Ann Patchett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Have listened to some of her fiction, and this compares quite favorably.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
To write an account of the process of becoming an officer in the LAPD, Ann worked through the steps to qualify to enroll in the Los Angeles Police Academy. Her father, a retired LAPD officer, gave her a home-base and encouragement during the rigorous days of testing of her moral character, and her intellectual and physical abilities.
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- Jonathan
- 09-23-15
Brilliant. A pleasure.
Any additional comments?
I have no idea what Ann Patchett is like in person. But in her essays, she's a wonderful, thoughtful, insightful companion.
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- Betsy
- 02-03-20
Awesome !!! Plus read by the author herself
Vignettes were super interesting. I was fascinated by the details of her career and the writing profession as a whole.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-11-18
Lovely
This book is lovely. It made me both belly laugh and sob. I haven’t read any of Ann Patchett’s work before, but now I can’t wait to gobble up her other books.
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- Marlene Cole
- 03-15-19
absolutely delightful
Like visiting and getting to know a friend. I think it is because not only is it well written but it is in a short story format. Each one was a visit. It made for wonderful hours of listening. I listened while stitching and it was like Ann was sitting there stitching with me.
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- Teresa McBride
- 10-06-23
Fantastic essay collection!
‘Chapters’ should instead be noted as the essay titles just like Patchett’s second essay collection, These Precious Days. Audible labels those by essay title.
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- Doggy Bird
- 01-01-14
Great Reading, Great Writer!
This is a great book of essays with very personal themes and much discussion of the author's relationships with family and friends. I had high expectations when this book of essays was recently published and I was not disappointed. The author's narration personalizes the entire book. I felt like she was speaking directly to me. This was further accentuated by the personal nature of the topics, strengthening the rapport between reader and author.
I would imagine these essays would interest even those readers unfamiliar with her novels, but for readers who are already fans these essays are particularly relevant since she discusses her craft and her working habits as well as her shift from the short story to the novel. For example, in one essay she talks about reading her manuscripts entirely out loud to a colleague before they are published. That will not surprise listeners to this audiobook since it is clear that her skills have been honed by much practice - she is a wonderful narrator.
I have been a fan of Ann Patchett for many years, and greatly appreciated the title essay of this collection when it was offered to Audible subscribers a few years ago. I also had experienced her narrating skills in her non-fiction book about her friendship with Lucy Grealy, TRUTH AND BEAUTY. I usually don't appreciate author-narrators but when they have such great skills they can really add to the personal essay read aloud - another example of this talent is Jonathan Franzen.
This book was a treat from beginning to end - everything about this collection was delightful and made me want more. I highly recommend it to essay fans, Patchett fans and those interested in the craft of writing.
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- Jill
- 12-19-20
fabulous
I've read many of Ann Patchett's novels but had not read her nonfiction. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
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- Benjamin Woodward
- 08-02-17
Tender Real outstanding
This is my most recent favorites of Ann Patchett's books. I have a dog like Rose in my life. And she touches me in the same way. I can relate and I can grow from every page of this book. Thank you Ann for sharing these many parts of yourself and life. From fathers to floods to fears through failures and faith.
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