0:00

Lots and lots of you looking forward to the next interview.

0:02

This person says I was on a waiting list of 168

0:04

for Tom Lake. That's

0:08

the new book by Anne Patchett at

0:10

Wellington Libraries and finally picked up my

0:13

copy yesterday. Well, this

0:15

is going to be the interview for you

0:17

in that case because my next guest is

0:19

the author Anne Patchett, one of the world's

0:22

most acclaimed prize-winning novelists

0:24

and nonfiction writers. She

0:26

was named one of Time magazine's 100 most

0:29

influential people in the world and

0:32

is a regular contributor to The

0:34

New Yorker and Harper's Magazine. She

0:37

also famously co-owns indie bookstore

0:39

Parnassus Books in Nashville. Her

0:42

collection of essays These Precious Days was

0:44

chosen by Barack Obama as one of his

0:46

Books of the Year in 2021. And

0:49

Anne is going to be appearing at the

0:51

Auckland Writers Festival in May, where she'll be

0:54

talking about her latest novel, Tom

0:56

Lake. I had the

0:58

idea for Tom Lake while I was

1:01

writing The Dutch House. And

1:03

then when I was on book

1:05

tour for Tom Lake, I

1:08

went to visit my friend Katrina in New Hampshire.

1:10

I was staying with her while I was on

1:12

tour for a couple of days. And

1:15

we were taking a walk in the woods

1:17

and we were in Peterborough, New Hampshire, where

1:19

she lives, which is where the

1:21

McDowell colony is, which is where Thornton

1:23

Wilder wrote A Lot of Our Town.

1:27

And Katrina said, what are you going

1:29

to work on next? And I said, oh,

1:31

I never talk about books this early, but

1:33

we're in Peterborough and we're so close to

1:35

Thornton Wilder. And I said,

1:37

all I know is I want to write a

1:39

book about a woman whose

1:42

life was changed by playing Emily

1:44

in our town when she was

1:46

in high school. And

1:49

my friend Katrina burst into tears. And she

1:51

said, I always wanted to play Emily in

1:53

our town. And we had

1:55

this whole conversation about how when she was

1:58

in high school Hampshire.

2:00

She had been cast as Rebecca. She

2:02

hadn't gotten Emily, but she fell

2:04

in love with the boy who was playing George,

2:06

her brother. And she was

2:08

telling me the story and I was like, oh, I got

2:10

it. I got it. I got it. I got this novel.

2:12

And then I ended up

2:15

putting the idea down to write

2:17

these precious days during the pandemic. And

2:20

I think if it wasn't for Katrina

2:22

just hounding me, I probably wouldn't have

2:25

gone back to it, but

2:27

she was obsessed because

2:29

it had kind of gotten

2:32

stale in my mind. It had been hanging

2:34

around for so long and I let another

2:37

book idea cut line in front of it.

2:40

And I thought, oh, well, you know, that's

2:42

really just not interesting. But

2:44

it was. Once I started doing it,

2:46

it was really interesting. And

2:49

Aretone is really

2:51

quite central to Tom Lake, to the book

2:54

that you have written. Do you need to

2:56

know the play to understand the book? No,

2:59

no, no, you don't. A

3:03

book that I love that everyone in

3:05

the world loved last year was

3:07

Demon Copperhead, Barbara King Salper's book.

3:10

And it follows David

3:13

Copperfield. I mean,

3:15

just action by action. It's really

3:17

incredible what she did. And she

3:19

kept saying you don't have to

3:21

read David Copperfield in order to

3:24

understand Demon Copperhead, which is absolutely

3:27

true. And you

3:29

couldn't say before you read my 500

3:32

page novel, you need to read this other 600 page novel.

3:36

So it is true that you don't have

3:38

to know our town to read

3:41

Tom Lake. But I think

3:43

that reading our town or watching

3:45

it, you can pull it up on YouTube and watch

3:47

it and it's an hour and a half enhances

3:51

the experience. Besides, it's just a fabulous

3:53

play. So I like to say to

3:55

people, go ahead and do it anyway,

3:57

because it'll make your life better. Tell

4:01

us a little bit perhaps about the play

4:04

so that people perhaps have a sense

4:06

of the peg in some ways that

4:08

this hangs on. So

4:11

our town is a very simple story.

4:14

It begins in 1900. It

4:16

probably goes through 1915

4:19

or something like that in a tiny town

4:22

called Grover's Corners in New Hampshire.

4:25

And it's about two families, the Webbs

4:27

and the Gibbs, and they live next

4:29

door to one another and they each

4:31

have a boy and a girl and

4:34

Emily Webb falls in love with George

4:36

Gibbs when they are in high school.

4:39

And the first chapter of the play,

4:41

the first chapter, the first scene of the

4:43

play is high school and

4:45

friendship and the beginning of

4:48

young love. The second

4:50

chapter is courtship and

4:52

marriage and the third

4:55

chapter is death. And

4:57

I don't have any problem giving that away

4:59

because that's just the way life

5:01

goes. And that's what

5:03

our town is about. Nothing

5:06

particular happens. It's

5:09

just looking at a regular

5:14

life and seeing

5:16

how incredibly beautiful

5:18

it is. And

5:21

our town is about paying

5:23

attention to the small,

5:25

beautiful things in life.

5:28

It's very deceptively simple and

5:30

quiet. The writing is very

5:33

simple. It is staged

5:36

without sets. Everyone's

5:38

just got a chair and they're sitting around

5:41

talking to each other. It is

5:43

a beautiful, beautiful play. You

5:46

read it every year. I

5:48

do. And I have ever since I was a

5:51

kid. And a lot

5:53

of it is, it reminds me of how

5:55

I want to write. I

5:57

want to say things in as clear. and

6:00

straightforward away as possible. But

6:04

as I have gotten older, it just

6:09

reminds me that we're

6:11

going to die, which you would think I wouldn't

6:13

need reminding of. But

6:16

to pay attention to my life and

6:18

the lives of the people around me.

6:22

I've seen Tom Lake described as

6:24

a fairy story. How

6:27

would you describe it? So

6:29

it's funny, the whole fairy story

6:32

thing has followed me throughout my

6:34

career. When I got

6:36

my first review in the New York Times for Patron

6:38

Sane of Liars in 1992, the review

6:42

said a fairy tale, a delight.

6:45

And I think that those words have

6:47

followed me on every single book I

6:49

have ever written since then. It

6:53

doesn't seem like a fairy tale to

6:55

me, but clearly

6:58

it's something that I

7:00

do. And I think

7:02

it is because I am very

7:04

interested in plot. And

7:07

I write

7:10

stories with a strong beginning,

7:12

middle and end, and also

7:15

stories that have a kind of

7:17

a moral to them. And so they wind

7:19

up sort of aligning with

7:21

fairy tales. I think that this

7:24

book is about a lot

7:26

of things, but mainly it's about the

7:29

fact that what we desperately want

7:31

when we are young is

7:34

not necessarily what

7:36

we want when we're older. And

7:39

so I wanted to write a book about

7:41

a happy marriage. And

7:43

I wanted to write a book about two

7:45

different kinds of love at two

7:48

different times in life. When

7:50

Laura is young, she

7:52

is having a passionate affair

7:55

with a crazy young actor

7:57

named Peter Duke, who

7:59

goes on to be a become a big movie star. And

8:02

when she's older, she has

8:04

a beautiful,

8:06

strong, family-oriented

8:10

marriage with Jo, who she loves. And

8:14

although her three daughters who are

8:16

in their 20s cannot believe that

8:18

she isn't filled

8:21

with regret, that she didn't spend her life

8:23

with Peter Duke and become a movie star

8:25

herself, she knows herself.

8:27

And at this point in her life,

8:29

she has exactly what she wants. Yeah,

8:33

I suppose there's that difference between young

8:35

love and married love and

8:38

how people move and change between

8:41

different states as well.

8:45

Yes, and they do.

8:47

And it was certainly true for

8:50

me. I mean, I think

8:52

about, my husband and

8:54

I have been together for 30 years. And

8:57

I am 60. And so half,

8:59

really half of my life has

9:02

been spent with this one person

9:04

who I really love, who is

9:06

really calm and stable and thoughtful

9:08

and kind. And when I think

9:10

about the people that I dated when I was in my

9:12

20s, I mean,

9:14

it really was set your hair

9:17

on fire and run screaming through the street.

9:21

They were just people

9:23

that I wouldn't get.

9:27

They even give the time of day to.

9:29

And of course, those guys are probably nothing

9:31

like they were when they were in their

9:33

20s. They probably all

9:35

have grandkids now and have settled down and

9:37

are happy, productive citizens. I'm

9:39

gonna hope so. It's

9:43

interesting to watch a

9:45

mother telling her daughters about her

9:48

first great love. And

9:52

I wonder about the concepts and why you came

9:54

up with that particular

9:56

grouping of people. I

10:02

feel like I know

10:05

slash knew my parents

10:07

well. My father is dead.

10:09

My mother lives down the street. And

10:14

yet, also, I

10:16

don't. I mean, I'm very

10:18

close to them, and I think I have

10:20

them completely figured out. But

10:22

I realize when I really, really

10:24

think about it, what

10:27

I know are the stories

10:29

that I've put together about

10:31

their lives. And I think

10:33

that that's what children do.

10:35

I mean, even very

10:38

thoughtful, sensitive adult children have

10:40

a hard time really

10:42

understanding that their parents had

10:45

full lives before they were

10:47

born. Like, the story starts

10:49

when you were born. But the

10:51

story didn't start when you were born. And

10:54

so that the girls, the three

10:56

daughters, have all of these misconceptions.

10:58

They keep interrupting Laura and correcting

11:00

her. No, no, that's not when

11:02

you were in California. No,

11:04

that's not when you met dad. That's

11:06

not how it happened. Because

11:08

they've worked it out in their

11:11

mind years before, and they're positive

11:13

that they're right, and they're not

11:15

right. And also,

11:17

a sort of present day

11:19

commentary on what has

11:22

happened in the past. You know, you

11:24

can't talk about a woman's

11:27

legs like that anymore. You're objectifying her

11:30

and that kind of thing. Yeah,

11:32

that was actually really fun. When

11:35

there's one point, because Peter Duke is

11:37

really crazy. He's really, really

11:40

crazy. And the girls interrupt

11:42

her and I would say, you can't say

11:44

crazy anymore. You're not allowed

11:46

to say that. You know, you're not

11:48

allowed to talk about his mental health

11:51

unless he gives you permission to. And

11:54

I don't have children, but

11:57

I have a bookstore With 30

11:59

daughters. There's who works there

12:01

and. And and it's

12:04

amazing to me. What?

12:06

These very. Thoughtful.

12:09

And correct. Young. Women

12:11

in their twenties are always telling me are

12:13

you can't you can't talk about that Have

12:15

deserted They're always. Telling me they're telling

12:18

other people. They're telling one another.

12:21

What it is, people are and are not allowed to

12:23

do so. That was a fun thing to put into

12:25

the book. And

12:28

it's. Interesting. To watch. It

12:31

would. Lara the to see

12:33

your character makes around on

12:35

how she tells the story

12:37

and. I suppose has she? That.

12:40

Doesn't tell some elements as

12:43

the story. She

12:45

kind of. Protect. Her children in

12:47

some ways. And.

12:51

But but also her children kind of tell her

12:53

off for certain things that she's to do like

12:55

are you know you can assist if we were

12:57

smoking. Mom that kind of thing. right?

13:00

Right and. Yet.

13:02

Seem. Goes. To

13:04

bed with Peter Duke. Relieved.

13:07

The first day she meets him and

13:09

their. Horrified by that. and

13:11

she's trying to figure out

13:13

a way. To. Tell

13:15

the story. How much do you tell? But

13:19

the site is. everyone

13:21

does this if something

13:23

happens to you. You.

13:25

Tell one version to your mother and one

13:27

version to your sister. Your.

13:30

Partner, your best friend, your

13:32

child, your employer, It's

13:34

not that you're lying. That.

13:36

We all shape our narrative

13:38

naturally without even thinking about

13:41

it. To make a

13:43

powers are both versions of

13:45

ourselves to the listener and

13:48

so. If. People will

13:50

say to me, well Laura's not

13:52

telling the whole truth and nobody

13:54

does nobody. There is no such

13:56

thing as the whole truth. There

13:58

is only. The. Rich. fracted way

14:00

in which we tell stories to different

14:02

people. It's

14:05

a story that takes place in

14:09

lockdown. It's not a story,

14:11

it's not a book about the

14:14

pandemic, but that is something

14:16

that kind of fizzles

14:18

around the edge. It's the reason for all

14:20

of them to be so

14:22

close. Well,

14:24

it's funny because, like

14:26

I said, I had the idea for this

14:29

book when I was working on the Dutch

14:31

House, so well before the pandemic, and it

14:33

was the same book. And

14:35

the thing about growing up

14:37

on a farm is you go home

14:39

and you work on the farm in

14:42

the summer. And so the girls were

14:44

always going to be there picking cherries

14:46

because that's what farm girls do in

14:49

the summer. And then

14:52

the pandemic happened and

14:54

I thought, ooh, this

14:56

is great because now they

14:59

can't leave. They're doing

15:01

this job they don't really want to be doing. They

15:03

were going to be doing it anyway, but

15:05

now they can't get mad and storm

15:07

off. So it's

15:10

not a pandemic novel, it's just kind

15:12

of a pandemic enhanced novel. The

15:15

Cherry Orchard 2 is

15:18

really almost a character in the book. Yes,

15:22

yes. And of course then we

15:24

get to bring in Chekhov as

15:26

well. Because

15:28

I own a bookstore and

15:30

I live to recommend books to

15:33

people, I felt

15:35

like putting our town

15:37

and the Cherry Orchard and also

15:39

Sam Shepard's Fool for Love, which

15:41

are the three plays that the

15:43

novel kind of sits on

15:46

like a three-legged stool. It

15:49

all became the backbone, those

15:51

three plays. But then the

15:53

Cherry Orchard place

15:56

was a character and was so

16:00

wonderful to write about. And when

16:02

I was doing research for the book,

16:04

I went to a cherry orchard a

16:06

friend of mine knew about,

16:09

and every single detail

16:11

in the book came from this particular

16:14

cherry orchard. A

16:18

woman named Barb Wunch was Barb's

16:20

farm. And when the

16:23

book came out and I went back there

16:25

on book tour and Barb had a little

16:28

barbecue for me and I went around the

16:30

cherry orchard again. And

16:33

it was so amazing to go back and physically be in this place where I had

16:39

been living in my head for such a long

16:41

time. You're

16:44

listening to Saturday morning on RNZ national

16:47

with Susie Ferguson. My guest is Ann

16:49

Patchen. We're talking about Tom Lake, which

16:51

is her latest novel. Interesting

16:56

you talk about book tours because I

16:58

read that maybe you're not going to do any more book tours.

17:01

I keep saying that. I

17:04

keep saying that I'm done. And

17:06

then the tour that I did for Tom Lake was the

17:08

biggest book tour I've ever done. When, when

17:14

these precious days came out during

17:16

the pandemic and the whole book

17:18

tour was on zoom sitting

17:21

at my computer. And I thought, this

17:23

is good. This is responsible. I'm, I'm going to

17:26

stay home from here on out. I'm not going

17:28

to do this anymore. And

17:30

then I went out again and ended

17:33

up having a great time. This,

17:37

it was really the first time I've ever had

17:39

fun on book tour, but I really had

17:41

fun on book tour this last time. And

17:44

it was long. It went on forever and

17:46

ever. Did it kind of

17:48

remind you why you enjoy them or

17:50

why you love them? Well,

17:52

I hadn't ever loved them in the past,

17:54

but I made a decision. It was really

17:56

interesting. I decided to change my mind. I

17:59

decided to, I did before I started that book

18:01

tour is hard because you're on

18:03

a plane every day and you're sleeping in

18:06

a hotel room and you're eating crackers

18:08

out of a vending machine. And, you

18:10

know, it's hard. It's hard. You

18:14

get sick, you know, all these things happen. And

18:17

I thought, all right, I've been on book tour off

18:19

and on since 1992. So,

18:21

you know, more than 30 years. And

18:25

I have explored every aspect of

18:27

book tour that is bad. But

18:30

it is also true that book tour is wonderful.

18:32

And I've never explored that part

18:34

of it. So I decided, all right,

18:37

I have done all the complaining I

18:39

needed to do. And

18:41

now I am only going to talk about

18:43

the parts that are good. And

18:45

it changed everything. So, you know, I would be

18:47

home for a couple of days and I would

18:50

be out taking a walk with my dog and

18:52

my neighbors would say, oh, you're on book tour.

18:55

Are you having so much fun? Do

18:57

you love it? Are you so happy?

19:00

And I would say, yes, I am. Because

19:05

normally I would say, no, it's

19:07

horrible. I'm exhausted. And I

19:10

just said, yes. And I'm so lucky.

19:12

People are so kind. It's been wonderful.

19:15

And the more I said it, the

19:17

more it became true. It

19:20

was really fascinating. It

19:23

is fascinating because I

19:27

guess it takes you away

19:29

from writing or you don't write while you're

19:31

on book tour, do you? No, no, I don't

19:33

do anything on book tour. So

19:36

if it takes you away from writing, was

19:39

that why you were resentful of them, do you think?

19:42

No, no, no, no. I mean, really,

19:45

the things that I'm talking about are the

19:47

problem. It's

19:49

the being on a plane every day.

19:51

It's being in a hotel room every

19:53

night. It's crazy,

19:56

crazy things like the.

20:00

The laundry detergent, In

20:02

hotels really rips up my. Skin

20:04

and so about a week or two

20:06

into book tour in our get like

20:08

little bleeding spots on my face or

20:11

I will get up in the middle

20:13

of the night to go to the

20:15

bathroom and not remember where the bathroom

20:17

is because it's not. The same place it was. the.

20:19

Night before up and I have

20:21

twice walked into a wall and

20:23

might put my head open and

20:25

the so it's bad in that

20:27

way. It's. Bad that.

20:30

He. The whole day is scheduled

20:32

and nobody schedules in fifteen

20:35

minutes to eat and. So.

20:37

You know, just in this very

20:39

basic physical way. And who am

20:42

I to complain? I'm the luckiest

20:44

person in the world and I

20:46

really understand that. But.

20:48

I decided to just overlook

20:50

that part. And. Concentrate on

20:52

the fact that. I mean.

20:55

Amazing people that I get

20:57

to recommend books to people

20:59

that people are still excited

21:02

about reading. And

21:04

people say oh, who reads, Nobody reads,

21:06

nobody cares and then I walk and

21:08

in there as thousand people in the

21:10

theater. And they want to

21:12

talk about books and he nudges my

21:15

book. They want to talk about reading

21:17

and books and that experience. And.

21:19

That So joyful. And I'm so

21:21

so lucky that I get to

21:24

be that person who brings people

21:26

together to talk about reading. What

21:30

books would you recommend? people? Well.

21:33

I'm awfully glad you last,

21:36

guy. I.

21:39

Loved. Alice Midterm: It's

21:41

absolution that. Was probably my

21:43

favorite book that was my

21:45

favorite books from last year

21:47

and. This. Year.

21:51

Car. There are bars

21:53

book murder is. Spectacular.

21:57

and he's a poet it's his first

21:59

novel It is

22:01

absolutely incredible. And in a week

22:03

or two, there

22:07

is a book by Percival Everett

22:09

coming out called James, which

22:12

is a retelling of the story of

22:14

Huckleberry Finn from the point of

22:16

view of Jim the Slave. And

22:18

I think that that book is

22:21

going to be life altering for so

22:23

many people. Another

22:25

thing, I've started a

22:28

video series for

22:30

the bookstore called New to You. It's

22:33

on Instagram or whatever. And

22:36

so every Friday I recommend

22:39

an old book that maybe

22:41

people have missed. So

22:43

one of the books that I'm really obsessed

22:45

with right now is called This is Happiness

22:47

by Nile Williams. And it came

22:49

out about five years ago, Irish

22:52

novel. What is

22:54

it about these books that has

22:56

really got under your skin? Great

23:01

writing, great thinking, mostly

23:03

humanity. I

23:07

read so much. And

23:09

if a book

23:13

can make me forget

23:15

that I'm reading a book, you

23:17

know what I mean? That

23:21

I completely buy it, that

23:23

I'm completely there. I

23:26

used to read Henry

23:29

James and Jane

23:31

Austen and Garcia Marquez and

23:33

Nabokov all the time. And

23:37

now all I read are books that have not

23:39

been published yet. All I

23:41

read are galleys of things that are coming out in

23:43

four or five months because of the bookstore. And

23:46

I read a lot of stuff that's bad or

23:49

so-so. And

23:52

when I find something that

23:54

is truly great, it's

23:58

such a joy. Yeah,

24:00

Joy beyond. Reading

24:03

classics for name which is what

24:05

I did for so much of

24:08

my life because I feel like

24:10

I'm. Discovering. Something and

24:12

coming to that on my own and

24:14

you so bereaved When story ends. No

24:18

doubt that. And

24:20

that's I wish you could. I wish you

24:22

could see. My office where I'm sitting says

24:25

they're just books that everywhere. No matter how

24:27

much I'd love a book, I'm

24:29

I'm almost always glad that I'm

24:31

done because I have another. Fifty

24:34

bucks that I need to get to

24:36

extract. That Nile Williams. This

24:39

is happiness. When I finish

24:41

that book and I never do this,

24:43

I flipped it over and I read

24:45

it again. Read. Away. And.

24:48

It was not a short book. Fact.

24:50

I loved it so much. I

24:52

didn't wanna be outside of that world. You

24:56

mentioned book soap and. I

24:59

guess you must talk to people in the

25:01

same way you talk to people and book

25:03

tours who love reading and who love your

25:05

books. You must have a similar situation happened.

25:08

with the book so and

25:10

different elements. For. You right?

25:15

In. A Study way it

25:17

it does. Because.

25:23

Of what is, I know what's

25:26

missing. I used to always say

25:28

before the bookshop. That. I

25:30

wrote the book that I felt was missing

25:32

and my life. And now

25:34

I realize that the book that's missing in

25:37

my life is also the peep. the book

25:39

that is missing in other. People's

25:41

Lives which is.

25:45

People. Want a book

25:47

that is smart? And.

25:50

Literary and well written. That.

25:53

Is not going to destroy their

25:55

soul. And there

25:58

are so many. Gordon

26:01

narrowly. Brilliant

26:03

novels, They. Come out

26:05

all the time, That. Will.

26:08

Destroy. Your soul.

26:11

At they are so brutal they are

26:13

so hard to take. So.

26:15

Crushing. And they're wonderful and

26:18

important and true. And

26:20

I value them. But.

26:23

It's hard to find a

26:25

book. That. You think yes,

26:27

this this counts as literature. This

26:29

counts as a good important. Book.

26:33

Is. It doesn't Also, Destroy.

26:35

You. And

26:38

so that that dickens what I

26:40

want to write because it's also

26:42

the book I want to find.

26:45

When. I read. Not. Every

26:47

time. At. By any

26:49

stretch, But. Every now and

26:52

then I I want something. That.

26:54

Speaks to how good people

26:57

are. Because. I.

26:59

I know that there are

27:02

terrible people and terrible things

27:04

in the world, and that

27:06

is so well documented that

27:08

somehow, if you're talking about

27:10

the goodness of people yearn,

27:12

you are seen as knees.

27:15

And the work is not as

27:17

important. But. I think

27:19

that we all know so many.

27:22

Good. Kind loving people.

27:25

And that experience also.

27:27

Should be represented in literature. I

27:33

was the book so. Going.

27:36

Coming. Out of. The.

27:38

Pandemic Phones. Were.

27:40

Great. I've I don't know

27:42

what the explanation as, but. Really?

27:45

Even through the pandemic and. It

27:47

was true. And so many

27:49

book. Shop owners that I know

27:51

because for quite. A club

27:54

that our communities when

27:56

we were closed. Really?

27:59

Care. The through for us

28:01

in the most amazing ways.

28:04

And. We were close from. Know

28:07

like five months or something and

28:09

and there was still small group

28:11

of us working in the store

28:13

and you could order a book

28:15

and pull up out. Front and open

28:17

your trunk and we would run outside and

28:19

put it in the trinket or car. And

28:22

then people would pay for it over

28:24

the phone that people started ordering their

28:26

books. From. Us. And

28:29

that again is so many

28:31

stores had the same experience

28:33

that we didn't go under.

28:36

And and it really strengthens. Our.

28:39

Sense of community. Our.

28:41

Relationship with our customers. But.

28:43

It also made us very

28:46

agile. Like the videos. The.

28:48

Videos that I do. And.

28:52

We do them on Tuesdays and on Fridays

28:54

about new books that are coming out on

28:56

Tuesdays and then old books that we love

28:59

on Fridays. and we started. Doing that when

29:01

we were closed. so I. Could say

29:03

hey, you know here's something that you

29:05

wouldn't know about because you can't come

29:08

in and shop that. Let me tell

29:10

you about this book that just came

29:12

out and people love those videos so

29:14

much. That. Isn't when we

29:17

reopened they said in an please please

29:19

keep doing and so I've been doing

29:21

them all this time and they get.

29:23

Hundreds. Of thousands of

29:26

views. It's. Crazy.

29:30

It's crazy. But.

29:33

People wanna know what to

29:35

read and and have that

29:37

conversation? So. It's it's.

29:39

a great thing. And never

29:41

would have done that if it hadn't been for

29:43

the pandemic. And it turned out to

29:45

be one of the most important things

29:47

that we do in the bookshop. Us.

29:52

Another thing about a good books help. Ah,

29:55

Is a good Books Up Dogs. Tell.

29:57

Me about hooks up talkspace. Stargazer

30:01

sleep on the couch right now he's

30:03

he's finished his shift for the day

30:05

and he thrusting. Of his

30:07

she's very, very good and

30:10

we have several. Very good

30:12

dogs and customers bring their

30:14

dogs into the store. Have

30:16

a dog a who is

30:18

a shop dog. And

30:21

obviously can never bite. A

30:25

ten not what we call

30:27

profile barking. So if you

30:29

have a dog that barks.

30:31

At Men in half sisters have a

30:33

Catholic that but the main thing that

30:35

are shop dog can't do is run

30:37

out the door. And

30:39

while you can find a dog that won't bite

30:41

and you can find it odd, That won't bark.

30:44

It is hard to find a dog for

30:46

won't run out the door when the doors

30:48

open and we've had to fire a couple

30:50

of dogs. a lot of the flag. That

30:54

but of. Our.

30:56

That's that's the group that we harsh.

30:59

And and and they

31:01

they. Give. A lot of valued. The

31:03

Store. And that is

31:05

And pats. Her new book

31:07

is Tom Lake, her latest novel

31:10

and sees appearing at the Oakland

31:12

Writers Festival on May the nineteenth.