More to Say: Essays & Appreciations

As deeply rewarding as her fiction, More to Say presents a selection of Ann Beattie’s essays, chosen and introduced by the author. From appreciations of writers, photographers, and other artists, to notes on the craft of writing itself, this is a wide-ranging, and always penetrating collection of writing never before published in book form.

Ann Beattie, a master storyteller, has been delighting readers since the publication of her short stories in the 1970s and her first novel, Chilly Scenes of Winter. But as her literary acclaim grew and she was hailed “the voice of her generation,” Beattie was also moonlighting as a nonfiction writer.

These penetrating essays are stories unto themselves, closely observed appreciations of life and art. The listener travels with Beattie to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to learn about the legacy of the painter Grant Wood and his iconic painting American Gothic; to the famed University of Virginia campus with her husband, the painter Lincoln Perry; to Key West, Florida, for New Years with writer and translator Harry Mathews; to a roadside near Boston in a broken-down car with the wheelchair-bound writer André Dubus. There are explorations of novels, short stories, paintings, and photographs by artists ranging from Alice Munro to Elmore Leonard, from Sally Mann to John Loengard. Whatever the subject, Ms. Beattie brings penetrating insight into literature and art that’s both familiar and unfamiliar.

Ann Beattie’s nonfiction is a new way to enjoy one of the great writers of her generation. Listeners will find much to love in this journey with a curious and fascinating mind.