Ann Patchett

I can't imagine doing one without the other.

They are

practically the same thing in my mind.

The novelist Patrick Ryan, who is my great dear friend, said to me recently, you know, if we had to pick if we could only have reading or writing, it would be reading.

And I said, absolutely.

I mean, I would be sad if I couldn't write anymore, but I can't imagine life without reading.

My relationship with writing, it's still primary.

It's still, you know, at the core of who I am.

My life is so much busier.

I mean, when I wrote my first couple of novels, I didn't have email.

Nobody knew...

where to find me.

There was nothing but giant expanses of free, quiet time.

So my writing has changed so much because now my life has changed so much and I'm always looking for that quiet place again to write.

Oh, I'm really glad you asked.

So the bookstore is named Parnassus Books.

And when we opened Parnassus Books, I had a partner for the first 10 years, Karen Hayes, and she was the owner manager.

And we met as two people who were interested in starting a bookstore.

A mutual friend introduced us.

We had a lunch and she said, I want to call the bookstore Parnassus Books.