What Now?
"A wise, generous and compact primer for life that could well become a touchstone, readers will return to this book, and probably find something new each time they do; deserves to be given often and enthusiastically." -- Publishers Weekly
Based on her lauded commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College, this stirring essay by bestselling author Ann Patchett offers hope and inspiration for anyone at a crossroads, whether graduating, changing careers, or transitioning from one life stage to another.
With wit and candor, Patchett tells her own story of attending college, graduating, and struggling with the inevitable question, What now? From student to line cook to teacher to waitress and eventually to award-winning author, Patchett's own life has taken many twists and turns that make her exploration genuine and resonant. As Patchett writes, "'What now?' represents our excitement and our future, the very vitality of life." She highlights the possibilities the unknown offers and reminds us that there is as much joy in the journey as there is in reaching the destination.
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Ann Patchett is the author of novels, most recently the #1 New York Times bestselling Tom Lake, works of nonfiction, and children's books. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the PEN/Faulkner, the Women's Prize for Fiction in the UK, and the Book Sense Book of the Year. Her novel The Dutch House was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages, and Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. President Biden awarded her the National Humanities Medal in recognition of her contributions to American culture. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the owner of Parnassus Books.
"Ann Patchett is unique: a generous, fearless, and startlingly wise writer." -- New York Times Book Review
"Patchett is a wonderful writer." -- New York Newsday
"[T]he best graduation present on the market...Personal but direct, with a warm, searching voice, Patchett looks at her own struggle with the perennial question "what now?" and finds some surprising moments of revelation.... Wise, illuminating observations abound, putting Patchett's talent for cogent, colorful metaphor to brilliant use... A wise, generous and compact primer for life that could well become a touchstone, readers will return to this book, and probably find something new each time they do; deserves to be given often and enthusiastically." -- Publishers Weekly
"[T]he best graduation present on the market... A wise, generous and compact primer for life that could well become a touchstone, readers will return to this book, and probably find something new each time they do; deserves to be given often and enthusiastically." -- Publishers Weekly
"[WHAT NOW?] is full of good-humored anecdotes that will resonate with anyone confronting the question in the title. It's a bit of a departure for this best-selling novelist, to be sure, but a genial, warmhearted one." -- Nashville Tennessean
"Patchett delivers lots of personable wit and clear-eyed, non-cliched reassurance to anyone making a fresh start." -- Good Housekeeping
