Truth & Beauty: A Friendship

This is Ann Patchett's memoir of her friendship with author Lucy Grealy. Lucy, who was badly disfigured in childhood due to intensive treatment for cancer in her jaw area, is a passionate, brilliant, funny, and ever childlike woman who longs for love. I mean, I know that most of us long for love but as Ann describes her friend, this woman *aches* to be special and to be deeply and obsessively loved. Lucy and Ann met in college, at Sarah Lawrence College, and became friends when they shared an apartment while enrolled at the Iowa Writer's Workshop. The rest is, as they say, history.

Ann's patience for Lucy's dependence and frivolity is admirable; she herself acknowledges that her attachment to Lucy had an addictive quality. But their friendship is also so sweet, and so viscerally true. It is an illustration of the best of friendship and the worst of friendship. That Lucy's life ended so tragically is hardly a surprise and Ann wastes no time on maudlin regrets. She beautifully describes her desire for more time, even a week, with Lucy still in her life, but she refuses to glorify a desperate and terrible ending. If anything, she lets society off just a bit lightly.

This is the first of Patchett's works that I have read. Bel Canto has been on my TBR pile for at least a couple of years and I did give it a weak try just once (I think I read about two pages before setting it aside). This lovely memoir motivates me to give her fiction a try.… (more)

# What merit I found in this book was due almost entirely to Patchett's narrative style. The author of two of my most-often-recommended books, Bel Canto and The Magician's Assistant, doesn't disappoint on that score in this -- what does one call it, a memoir?

And therein lies the main problem -- it's not a memoir, but it's told with too much almost-voyeuristic detail to be a respectable biography. I suppose that what it's supposed to be is a memoir of a friendship, as well as a memorial tribute of sorts, but it would have been better, in my opinion, as an essay, without spending what amounts to a large part of a book going into so many sordid personal details. If someone writes about her own (appalling, really, in this case) promiscuity and drug use, you feel that she has the right to do so and that she's given you the right to read it -- whether one is interested in that sort of thing or not, she's putting the choice in the reader's hands. But no matter how close Patchett was to Lucy Grealy, the other half of the titular friendship, I felt like she was overstepping her rights. It was like she was giving us Lucy's diary to read, without her consent. I enjoyed reading about the more innocent aspects of their shared life -- their inside jokes, for example, and their trials and successes as writers -- but it seemed like a page couldn't go by without a shot of the kind of details that I personally think would have been better kept between Ann and Lucy, especially since Lucy wasn't the one telling the story.

I do realize that she was probably trying to avoid the standard "triumph of the human spirit" biography -- indeed, Ann and Lucy had a running joke about the various attempts people would make to turn Lucy into that kind of lesson. But somehow going too far in the other direction was even worse, for me, anyway.

Obviously Patchett cared deeply about Lucy and had reasons for writing about her life the way she did. And not being on the inside, so to speak, I really don't have anything to say about whether this story should have been written or not. But as a reader, a looker-on, I can say that I do wish I had been able to leave Lucy some respectful privacy. Had I known how deeply private this story was, I'd not have chosen to read it.… (more)

Truth & Beauty is Patchett's book about her relationship with Lucy Grealy, author of Autobiography of a Face. Like all the Patchett books I've read so far, it's very well written and compelling to read. Lucy was a charismatic but very troubled young woman, and her friendship with Ann often crosses the line from being something beautiful to being something dysfunctional.

I read the book in a day and a half. I'm usually a fast reader, but I was so caught up in the story of this unique and obsessive relationship, that I found it hard to put the book down. I did think it was an excellent book, but it's one that I'd recommend cautiously as Lucy and Ann's story is often a painful one.… (more)

Given to me by a close friend after we parted ways post-Peace Corps, this is my favorite book about friendship. I've read plenty of reviews that fault Patchett for letting herself be "used" by Lucy Grealy, but I applaud Patchett for this honest portrayal of a friendship that was not always easy. Despite the difficulties Lucy and Ann sometimes faced--loss, disease, drug addiction, success--their friendship remained strong and became the net that caught both of them each time they felt they were losing their grip on life. Beautifully written.… (more)

"I have the most extraordinary friends. I've never really understood why everyone has been so good to me, and now I can interview them, talk to them and see." Then she added as a gift, "I'll write a whole chapter about you."

"I could write a whole book about you," I said, and laughed.

I really enjoyed this book. Ann Patchett writes beautifully, and I often found myself wanting to slow down my reading to enjoy the writing more fully. Patchett does a fine job of rendering Lucy's big personality, her huge emotional presence (as opposed to her small physical one), and her tendency to pursue things both good and bad with a reckless passion. While it's true that many elements of Lucy's behavior are downright selfish and irritating...Patchett manages to show Lucy in a positive light that captures the great things that Lucy brought into Ann's life along with the not so great things. In some sense, everybody needs a spontaeous, passionate friend who will jolt them out of their comfort zone and help them live their life more fully, but as Patchett shows, having a friend like this, in Lucy, was certainly not all fun and games as Lucy was nearly as passionate about feeling bad as she was about feeling good.

There were so many things in this book I felt like I could relate to - for example being the one who is the ant to a friend's grasshopper. She also describes the feeling of that lull between being a success at school and being a success in the "real world" where you're wondering if you'll ever get to that place where you're a successful somebody. All in all, this was a fine read, I was completely caught up in the story of Ann and Lucy's friendship, and Ann's love for Lucy permeates the story...it's an honest tribute to their friendship that encompasses both its good and bad moments. Patchett shows us that friendship can be messy and can easily fall apart, but love is the glue that holds it all together.… (more)

This is a nonfiction book in which Ann Patchett writes about her best friend, the late Lucy Grealy. Lucy lost most of her jaw to cancer as a child. It caused countless health problems and she had one painful surgery after another throughout her life trying to correct the problem. I was a surprised by how limited medical science is in this area. I had never realized how little they can do in a situation like this. The book is really about Ann and Lucy's friendship, which began in college. Ultimately it's a sad story, but the friendship between the two women is lovely to read about. It made me want to read Grealy's book: Autobiography of a Face.… (more)

Friendship is an curious thing - especially if one of the relationship develops emotional or dependence issues. What is sad is that often people who are spiraling out of control won't let themselves be helped. Ultimately I thought this memoir was most interesting for what it says about the author - who she is. Also interesting to me was the nuts and bolts of her writing career - getting started.… (more)

Very well-written story of her friendship with Lucy Greeley, author of Autobigraphy of a Face. Greeley had a horrible bout of cancer when young & lived the rest of her life with the physical results of the destructive treatment. Apparently Patchett & many other people found Lucy's positives woth the neediness & self-obsession that Patchett documents here, but I don't believe I learned why.… (more)

About her weird friendship with Lucy Grealy, the Girl Without a Face. I read and liked the latter a lot; but the Lucy portrayed in this book is an insufferable needy narcissist, forever needing to be loved and the center of attention. She finally dies of a heroin overdose, Ann Patchett enabling her all the way. Why she loved her so much I never understood.… (more)

I read this shortly after reading Lucy Grealy's Autobiography of a face. This book is a beautiful and honest tribute to their very special friendship. Patchett is honest about not only the beauty of the friendship, but also the strains of "carrying" Lucy through some of her dark periods.

A beautiful book, but I'd recommend reading Grealy first to set yourself up for this one.… (more)

This book was brilliant. After reading Autobiography of a Face, I thought it only appropriate that I read this as a follow up. I am glad I did. It really brought everything home. I think I actually enjoyed this book even more. I think it shows the power of friendship. Maybe I am a bit biased, because I have had a lot of emotional relationships with friends that many people never understood. I admire Ann for being Lucy's friend through everything. Lucy really put her through a lot, yet she stood by her no matter what. I admire that and I strive for that in my own life. She was not judgemental (for the most part) and really understood what it meant to be a friend. I think that is one of life's most important and hardest things. This book was beautiful. I plan to send it to two of my friends who I think it was also hit home with. Some people may wonder why Ann stood by Lucy the way she did, but I never questioned it while reading this book. Lucy's life was an amazing one, but I think this story of their friendship is even more amazing.… (more)

Ann remembers her friendship with Lucy Grealy, from the first time she met her in high school to when they found her dead in her apartament. It is a story of friendships. it tells the struggle of Lucy with her face and her countless operatios, of her struggle to find love.
Pleasant, not very deep.… (more)

This memoir, in which Ann Patchett exposes the insecurities and private life of her supposedly dear friend Lucy Grealy, should be skipped. Patchett believes that in telling the story of her friendship with Lucy, she is showing the world a more complex and interesting side of a tortured soul, but, in reality, Patchett uses this book as a platform to present herself as a saint and hero. The deep bond these two women share is not tied up in their literary pursuits, as Patchett would have us believe, so much as it is tied up in Lucy's deep and pathological need for love (either platonic or romantic) and Patchett's egotistical belief that she can best fill that need. By the end of this book, I was sick of both of these women. The style is an uninteresting linear narrative with too many details of old memories to be the truth. The one redeeming feature of this book are Lucy's private letters to Ann.… (more)

Patchett's recollections of her long friendship with fellow writer Lucy Grealy. The book traces their relationship from their first meeting in high school, through college and graduate programs and the development of their writing careers, with honesty and compassion. Patchett is honest and forthright, not sugar coating Grealy's behavior but portraying her as a brave, insecure, sometimes crazy woman doing her best to stand up to the fate she was dealt as a child. There are times it is difficult to understand this friendship, as Grealy's behavior can sometimes be ugly. Her refusal to allow life to pass her by, however, is admirable, and it is a bravery that is obviously appealing and encouraging. A difficult, emotional read that stays with you for a very long time.… (more)

This memoir shares the friendship between Ann Patchett and Lucy Grealy, both writers. Lucy had cancer as a child and as a result lost most of her jaw and teeth. She is a pixie, both slight of weight and full of energy. Her ongoing struggles with medical issues are second to her emotional instability: there is never enough love to make Lucy feel treasured and beautiful. She is most comfortable in the hospital and around doctors because she understands the rules there: be stoic, follow the rules, don't question the doctors, be a good patient. She feels special and unique in the medical setting. In life, she strives to always surround herself with people and forget her ever-changing face and her loneliness.

The book lives in the space where these two lives intersected, and portrays their friendship as very tight, even possessively so at times. " 'Do you love me? She threw one leg over mine and in doing so managed to swallow up all the air in the restaurant.' " This obsessive need for Ann's undying affection is also reflected in Lucy's letters (which I loved), interspersed throughout the book. I have heard that Ann is not mentioned very much in Lucy Grealy's Autobiography of a Face and I am interested to read that soon and see how the two stories diverge. A good read.… (more)