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This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage Essays by Ann Patchett T his book compiles Patchett's magazine work as far back as 1997. Originally appearing in mag- azines like Granta, Harpers, New York Times Magazine, Washington Post Magazine, Vogue and Atlantic Monthly, these 22 essays take on a range of top- ics far wider than the title would suggest. While there is an essay with this title toward the end of the book, and it is about Patchett's second marriage, which is quite happy, a more apt interpretation of the word "marriage" in the title would refer to the union between Patchett and her writing, about as right as a union can be. These essays follow her writing career while telling more personal stories of divorce, wait- ressing at T.G.I.Fridays, learning to climb a wall, immense love for a dog, and for a nun. In this excerpt from "The Getaway Car," Patchett addresses a common misconception that anyone can become a writer overnight: "Why is it that we understand playing the cello will require work, but we attribute writing to the magic of inspiration? If a person of any age picked up the cello for the first time and said, 'I'll be playing in Carnegie Hall next month!' you would pity their delusion, yet beginning fiction writers…send [stories] off to The New Yorker." "If you want to write, practice writing. Do you want to do this thing? Sit down and do it. Are you not writing? Keep sitting there. Does it not feel right? Keep sitting there." "Think of yourself as a high school senior wanting to be a neurosurgeon. Is it possible? Yes. Is there some shortcut? Not one I've found." The essays in This is the stor y of a Happy Marriage will teach, amuse, and enlighten you, and make you feel better about being human. The Best American Essays, 2015 Edited by Ariel Levy E qually delightful and varied are the essays in The Best American Essays, 2015, edited by Ariel Levy. Before diving into this reading, you would not be able to imagine the range of top- ics covered, moods evoked, and tones adopted by the writers doing the sense-making. Equally worthy are an essay by 93-year-old Roger Angell, "This Old Man," about aging, and an essay by newcomer Kendra Atleework, "Charade," about youth and place, fear and adolescent friendship. Angell is finishing up a writing career ; Atleework is just starting one. "Charade" was her first publication and it landed in Best American. She is definitely a writer to watch. Justin Cronin's essay, "My Daughter and God," pivots around an accident his wife and daughter have that should have been fatal. "She and my daughter looked at each other. The car had been utterly obliterated, but there was no blood, no pain, no evidence of bodily injury to either of them." "The EMT was as baffled as everyone else. 'Nobody walks away from something like this,' he said." "As my wife tells the story, this was the moment when, as the saying goes, she got God." "She had been placed i n a c i r c u m s t a n c e i n which a mother's greatest fear was about to be real- ized, then yanked from the brink. Her future emerged in her mind as something given back to her…" The beauty of the essay form is the writer turning a thing over and over in the mind, seeing it from every angle in any available light. In Kelly Sundberg's "It Will Look Like a Sunset," the thing she's turning over in her mind is the surprise of domestic abuse. It comes seemingly out of nowhere, out of a loving rela- tionship, entirely unexpected. Sundberg admits she had to lie to her friends: "I shut my arm in the door. I tripped on a rug and hit my face on the table. I don't know where that bruise came from…I just bruise so easily." You may feel you've heard enough about domestic violence, but you must read Sundberg's essay. And then read Meghan Daum's, Rebecca Solnit's and Margo Jefferson's. When you're ready for comic relief, tr y "Stepping Out" by David Sedaris, a typically fun and self-deprecating ode to his Fitbit. Happy 2016! Keep reading! C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 91 Books available locally at Pilgrim's Way and River House Books in Carmel. Melanie Bishop's young adult novel was recently released. Bishop brings to the Monterey Peninsula 22 years of teaching creative writing, and 18 years as founding edi- tor of Alligator Juniper, a national literar y magazine. For more information, go to www.melaniebishopwriter.wordpress.com. www.melaniebishopwriter.wordpress.com. Washington Post Magazine, Vogue and Atlantic moment when, as the saying goes, she got God." saying goes, she got God." i n a c i r c u m s t a n c e i n which a mother's greatest fear was about to be real- saying goes, she got God." ized, then yanked from the b in her mind as something given back to her…" form is the writer turning a thing over and over moment when, as the saying goes, she got God." saying goes, she got God." i n a c i r c u m s t a n c e i n which a mother's greatest fear was about to be real- saying goes, she got God." ized, then yanked from the b in her mind as something given back to her…" form is the writer turning a thing over and over form is the writer turning a thing over and over