Katrina Kenison

celebrating the gift of each ordinary day

in Book Reviews· Books· Reading· Writing and Reading

a chat with Anna Quindlen

“Look around at the azaleas making fuchsia star bursts in spring; look at a full moon hanging silver in a black sky on a cold night. And realize that life is glorious, and that you have no business taking it for granted.”    ~ Anna Quindlen

I have been having a lively conversation in my mind with author Anna Quindlen for about twenty-five years. She’s my wiser, more observant, funnier best friend — albeit, the one I’ve never actually met. Still, I’m pretty sure if we were neighbors we’d get together to walk our dogs every morning and compare notes on what’s going on in the world, what we’re making for dinner, what we’re reading and thinking and worrying about. (I’m also pretty sure every other Anna Quindlen fan feels exactly the same way I do. To read Anna Quindlen is to wish she lived next door.)

So when Ann Patchett asked if I’d like to come to Nashville to interview Anna about her new novel I leapt at the chance. At last! Our conversation would finally move out of my head and into real life.

Alternate Side sneaks up on you. It begins simply enough, with a middle-aged man’s acquisition of a permanent parking space in his affluent, tightly knit Manhattan neighborhood and his wife’s less than enthusiastic response to his good fortune. And from there it goes on to explore just about all the questions I lie awake pondering at two a.m. – everything from Is my family ok? to Is our country ever going to be ok again?

With great insight, tenderness, and humor Anna creates a portrait of a long-lived, seemingly happy marriage, and then she reveals the fissures beneath the surface. She draws us into a tranquil community of privileged people and introduces the dedicated, far less privileged men and women who make such lives possible. And then, pulling no punches, she reveals just how little we actually know of the people closest to us and how precarious even the most carefully constructed life really is.

Frankly, it was a little eerie, reading Alternate Side. Whether you live in Kansas or California, New Hampshire or New York, it’s the kind of book that asks you to stop and take a closer look at the divisions, tensions, and alternate sides of your own world. It may also make you feel as if the author is hanging out on your doorstep, reading your mind, eavesdropping on your phone calls, debriefing your kids, and listening in on the argument you just had with with your spouse at the breakfast table.

Perhaps, given our long relationship with Anna Quindlen – nine best-selling novels and eight works of memoir/nonfiction — this should come as no surprise to anyone. She knows us so well! She is us. (A critic once called her “the sanest person in America,” and it’s easy to see why.) Still, when a book hits this close to home, when it cracks your heart open and makes you rethink all of your assumptions, you can’t help but sit up and pay attention.

And when a novel comes along that’s as timely and as unsettling as Alternate Side, you also want everyone you know to read it – soon — so you can all get together and have a chat about it. It’s a page-turner. And once you turn that last page you’re going to want to have someone to talk to.

I wish you could all come to Nashville on March 28 to join me and Anna Quindlen for our conversation at the Nashville Public Library. (If you live nearby, do come! Ticket info for this free event is on the Parnassus Books site, here.)

But here’s the next best thing:  I’ll come home with a signed book from Anna to give away here.

P.S. It just so happens that the arrival of Anna’s galley coincided with a brief family vacation in Florida, hence my goofy sun hat. But the truth is, Alternate Side should be the beach book of 2018 — and the book club novel of the year as well.  With my appetite whetted for more, I went straight back to one of AQ’s earliest and best-loved novels, One True Thing, which is really one of the great classics of mother-daughter relationships.  And if you want to know exactly why I feel such a kinship with Anna, treat yourself to her most recent collection of personal essays, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake.  You’ll wish she lived next door to you, too.

to enter to win a signed book

Just leave a comment below to enter to win a signed first edition of Alternate Side. Have a question you’d like me to ask Anna? By all means let me know. (She says nothing is off the table.) If you’re willing to share an “alternate sides” situation from your own life, I’d love to hear about it. Or you can simply say, Count me in.  I’ll choose a winner at random after midnight on Thursday, April 5.

If you want to be sure of getting your own signed copy, you can pre-order one from Parnassus right here.  (Or, order from Amazon here. This is an affiliate link.)

Comments

  2. It’s wonderful that the two of you have this opportunity to meet and share life-experience wisdom! Please count me in.

  3. I am looking forward to reading about your meeting. Such fun and anticipation. Count me in.

  5. Not a surprise that you love AQ – you are both such beautiful writers. Thank you and count me in!

  6. It would be so great to be in Nashville with its warmer, hopefully snow free weather. Listening to two of my favorite authors would make it perfect. Please count me in.

  7. Count me in!!! Please , I am a fan of both you ladies… so wise, so inspiring💕

  9. I’ve never read an Anna Quindlin book, but will now be checking a few out of my library. Enjoy the interview! (I just put Alternate Side on hold at my local library, but I’m #68 on the hold list so please COUNT ME IN!)

  10. Goosebumps! Count me in! Heard Anna speak in Portsmouth, NH a few years back. Happy for you that you have this long awaited dream come true! Count me in, please!

  12. I loved Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake and gave copies to my best friends for birthdays the year it came out! Count me in!

  15. I so wish I was free, and brave enough to come to Nashville next week! I’ve long known if I were your neighbor we would be fast friends. If Anna were our neighbor as well I would feel as if I were living a dream! Enjoy your time together. I cannot wait to read all about it!❤📚

  16. I’ve reserved 2 books written by Anna Quindlin. Thank you for the recommendation!!
    Count me in! I’d love to win!

  18. Thank you for the book recommendation. True confession – I have felt that you and I would be great friends, probably like everyone else here. : )
    Enjoy your time in Nashville!

  19. Great. Now I know just where to look when I go to the library on Saturday, after the March for our students’ lives. Thanks.

  22. What a treat to be going to Nashville to interview Anna Quindlen and to be able to have an actual conversation! I have read her work over and over again for years. Her perceptive, honest, and beautiful prose made me want to write even when I was afraid to. If I don’t win this drawing, I’ll be reading this novel and would love to talk about it. Thank you, Katrina!

  24. Happy for you that you have this wonderful opportunity – – and looking forward to hearing about your interview! Please count me in.

  25. Big Ann Patchett fan as well as one of yours. Good luck in Tenn. with the interview- would love to read her latest book.

  26. ✨ count me in :: there’s a AQ quote taped over the toilet “The life you have led doesn’t need to be the only life you have.”

  29. Count me in…! I would love to be part of your day in Nashville, but I won’t be able to travel from Long Island. Your email came to me at an opportune time, as I am struggling with turning 60 and figuring out where to find meaning, since my son is going to be graduating from college and I am a single mom. Anyway, I love AQ’s books. Count me in!

  30. Oh I wish I was able to be there! Anna is one of my all time favourite authors and I was reading her columns before there were any books!

  32. I’ve love AQ forever! And wishing I did live across the street. Count me in!

  37. Anna Quindlin, Kelly Corrigan and Katrina Kennison- three authors that feel like friends! Thanks for the thoughtful essays about life, friendships, motherhood, marriage, yoga…….

  38. Count me in please! I can’t wait to read it! I’ve put One True Thing on my list as well!

  41. Wish your interview could be broadcast to all of us. Is it possible a tape will be made that could be shared? Count me in!

  42. I am so glad you are getting to do this! I hope it is everything you could wish for.

  44. Count me in! I haven’t read any of AQ’s books, but now I want to! Thank you, and I send wishes for a lovely trip.

  46. I wish she lived next door to me too. So looking forward to reading the interview. Thank you!

  50. Please count me in. I’m heading to the library tomorrow on my lunch hour to find an AQ book. Just finished Kelly Corrigan’s book.

  51. Two of my favorite authors together- wish I could be a fly on the wall! Please count me in.

  53. Yes, please count me in.! I have just finished reading “Still Life with Bread Crumbs”, by Anna Quindlen.! I love all her books.! 💕

  56. What a powerful threesome – you Katrina, Ann and Anna. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when you all meet. Enjoy!
    Please count me in.

  57. Please count me in. How I would love to be in Nashville attending this interview in person. So happy for you, Katrina, that you will get to meet her for real. Anna Quindlen is one of my favorite authors and I sure look forward to reading her new book.

  58. The quote by Anna Quindlen you began this piece with is breathtaking…thank you for sharing it. I would love a copy of her new book to read and to share! Please also count me in!

  61. Please count me in. I have read a few of her books and really enjoyed them. I love her thoughtfulness and sensitivities. I have really enjoyed your books as well, which make me think about slowing down and savoring the day and valuing with gratitude those that are in our lives.

  62. Alas, I will be out of the country on vacation! Otherwise, I’d fly to Nashville for this event. You’ve sold me on this book. I wish I had it for vacation, but I will order it when I return (if I don’t win, that is!). Thank you!

  63. Count me in twice! Anna Quindlan’s words have inspired me since she began her writing career at The NY Times decades ago…her insight into the human condition radiated off the page then, as it does today.

  65. Count me in please, Thank you …. I agree with the critic who said that Anna is definitely one of the sanest people in America, and I will add “globally,”

  67. Thanks Katrina. Never heard of this author till now, but thanks to you, I googled her and picked up a few ;lovely quotes and also a couple of book titles for my wife. Thank you

  72. Rediscovering AQ – thank you! Thanks also to Kirsten for mentioning the library as a resource – I put in my Hold request here in Anchorage!
    I’m all in for the gift of a signed copy -Thank you, Katrina!😊

  75. “One true thing” started i all for me with Anna Quindlen. Please count me in!!!

  77. Count Me In!! I Love Anna’s books and Ann Patchett’s too!! Libraries and bookstores are my favorite places. It’s great that the event is being held at the library. I have wanted to go to Parnassus Books for some time. Have a fun time in Nashville!!

  78. Count me in! If I were there I would bring my tattered “One True Thing” copy, which has a permanent place on my bedside table.

  82. Actually, Katrina, I’ve wished for years that YOU lived next door to me!! I wish I could be in Nashville but know that you will plumb the depths w./ Anna Q. in your wonderfully masterful way! Count me in!

  84. So happy for you to finally meet a kindred spirit. Thank you for sharing Anna with me; I’ve definitely added more books (hers and yours) to my “want to read” list!

  88. Your words about this new book whetted my appetite to read it. It’s already on my “to read” list. Will read it if I win a copy or not.

  89. I have read every one of Anna’s books and own most of them! Look forward to reading about your meeting with her.

  91. I have loved Anna Quindlen’s writing since she was a columnist! Wish I could be in Nashville for this interview.

  92. I would love to have both you and Anna Quindlen as neighbors-then I would surely get another dog!

  93. Coincidentally I just finished reading Ann Patchett”s “This is The Story of a Happy Marriage” and loved seeing your name in one of the stories. Also I’ve been a huge fan of A.Q. so I can’t wait to read her new book. Count me in!

  95. Oh how envious I am. I would love to meet Anna! Next best thing would be winning and reading this book!

  98. How I wish I was in Nashville to be able to join you. Since I’m not please count me in on the chance to win.

  100. Count me in. I’ve read most of Anna Quindlen’s books. Her book, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake inspired me to make an art quilt featuring a cake( with lots of candles, of course).

  101. I love Anna Quindlen! I hope you have a wonderful time with her. What a treat!! I can’t wait to read this new novel!!

  102. Please enter my name in the drawing. Wish I lived closer to Nashville!
    Would love to be there to meet Anna too!

  107. What a wonderful and delightful opportunity to get to meet Anna Q. I wish I could be there to hear your conversation. Keep us posted. I would love to read her new book.

  108. My first thought when I read this post was “Boy, I’d like to be a fly on the wall for that interview.” But it only took me a few more seconds to realize “The heck with that. I want to be there in person!” Since I don’t live anywhere near Nashville, reading your interview will be the next best thing. I look forward to it!

  110. “One true thing” was a life changing book for me as I read it after supporting my mother through breast cancer. I look forward to reading “Alternate Sides”. Enjoy every minute of this wonderful experience meeting “a best friend”for the very first time. I hope you will ask her if we can look forward to anymore children’s books in the future.

  111. How fortunate for you! Sadly, I live too far from Nashville. I was struck by the title of Anna’s new novel…I live in Brooklyn NY where, if you do not have a garage or driveway (and many do not!) you park your car “on the street.” However, certain days of the week are for parking on one side of the street and certain days are for the other. If your family owns more than one car, parking can be problematic to say the least. If you were parked on the “wrong side” a parking ticket landed on your windshield for sure; sometimes your car could be towed (UGH!) A question that was always asked upon awakening by any or all family members in my household when the children were home was, “Is today ALTERNATE SIDE?” They were probably the first two words my children learned growing up! LOL… Sorry for the long story, but upon reading your blog today, I did chuckle aloud, and those words flooded me with memories….some very funny, others not so much! None the less, Anna’s novel sounds like a great read to me! Count me in!!

  112. Count me in! I have family in Nashville and will see if they can go see you and Anna in my place! Can’t wait to hear all about your time together!!!

  115. I, too, have felt Anna Q. was a best friend. Have read all her novels and essay collections. Count me in.

  116. Count me in! However, if I am lucky enough to win, I will opt to send the book to a friend. After reading your post yesterday evening, I went directly to the Toadstool Bookshop in Keene and purchased a copy for myself. I’m halfway through and loving it! How I would love to join you in Nashville – three of my favorite authors in one place. Hope that you have a wonderful time.

  121. You are the perfect person to do this interview. Will a transcript be available after?
    My birthday is April 5th. Winning would be a great present!

  122. Would have loved the opportunity to meet both of you in Nashville. Please count me in!

  124. I wish I could be there, too! I’ve followed Anna from her first columns in the NY Times back in the early 80s ~ even in my teens, her writing about families, relationships, and life spoke to me. She made me laugh and cry and always want more. Enjoy your time in Nashville … 3 of my favorite authors in one place!

  129. As soon as I heard about this event I called my sister and said let’s take a road trip. She lives in NY and I, in Baltimore. Then we looked at the calendar – less than 2 days before Passover – made it an impossibility. Please count me in for the signed copy

  130. Wishing you a safe journey and a wonderful time. Please count me in. I look forward to hearing more about it!

  131. Missing my best friend with whom I would definitely share such an adventure. Count me in!

  132. I have not read this new book but I have long been aware of the great divide we currently have in the USA: political, economic, and social. The lives of the well-to-do seem so far fetched to most of us living modestly and within our mean. This divide of course is dramatically and unfortunately accentuated by the current administration that attempts to dismantle everything in our society that is for the common good and not just for the well-heeled. Where will it all end? I am fearful for my two precious granddaughters. I guess we as citizens can only do our part and VOTE, VOTE. And pray to the high heavens that we are not blown to smithereens before then.

  134. Another wonderful addition to the Anna Quindlan list! Thank you so much for sharing both your story and her latest book with all of us.

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