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Thrive Book Club: These Precious Days

04 April, 2022

This month’s Thrive Book Club pick is “These Precious Days,” a collection of essays by Ann Patchett released Nov. 23, 2021. The book is a reflection on family, friendships, and home that anyone may find ways to relate to. However, the title essay is the one we’d like to note.

Originally published in Harper’s magazine, the essay is a winding tale of how Patchett came to be friends with Sooki, the personal assistant to Tom Hanks, and how their friendship evolved over the course of Sooki’s pancreatic cancer treatment.

Christine, a prevention programs manager at Nevada Cancer Coalition, called the essay “a moving, touching, surprising story of friendship and support.” She also noted that every essay in the book is excellent, lest one be tempted to just read the one.

In a New York Times Book Review, Alex Witchel notes, “What begins as a routine story of illness becomes an exploration of families and a central character who refuses to be characterized.”

Read the essay “These Precious Days” at Harpers, or find the book of essays at your local bookseller.

https://harpers.org/archive/2021/01/these-precious-days-ann-patchett-psilocybin-tom-hanks-sooki-raphael/

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