Truth and Beauty: A Friendship

Shocking and Perverse Friendship

Ann and Lucy are writers who met at the University of Iowa's esteemed Writers Workshop. They also attended the same college, Sarah Lawrence, but did know each other there. Lucy barely acknowledged Ann in those days. When they became roommates in Iowa, Ann's affection for Lucy took on an All About Eve quality. Ann became Lucy's servant, and Lucy ordered her about in a strange, lurid, psycho-drama that only Ann seemed to think was a normal girlfriend friendship. This was not, in my opinion, a healthy relationship. Rather, it was a disturbuing, co-dependent relationship, with latent lesbian features. I base this on Ann's own descriptions of the extent to which she went to please Lucy. No one I know would go to these lengths to please a girlfriend. Ann seems to working through her own issues throughout this book--sexual orientation, friendship, affection, romance, professional achievement. I just wish she could be more honest with her feelings and take us, the readers, one layer below. For example, she notes, with pleasure, that she slept with Lucy on many cold mornings--in a twin bed. What was Ann thinking, experiencing, fantasizing, and feeling during these nocturnal encounters with her bosum buddy Lucy? This book has a weird fascination that makes it noteworthy and eminently readable.

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Two Women Exploring The Boundaries of Love and Sex

This is a book about two women who shared an unbelievably close emotional relationship. At the start of the book, Lucy and Ann lived together as graduate students at the University of Iowa. They dated men but at the end of a long day, were usually together. Lucy professed her love for Ann, leapt into her arms, smooched her lips, crawled into her bed, watched her take nude baths. Was this merely a platonic riendship or was there more to it than that? I would argue that their romance had lesbian overtones. Oddly enough, the L word is not to be found in this book despite a plot that reminded me of a 1950s lesbian pulp novel about two women who fall in love, marry, but remain in love. Erotic or platonic love. You, the reader, be the judge.

4 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Sorry tale of a sick relationship

This book is being publicized as a moving account of an enduring, loving friendship. It actuality, it is a disturbing tale of an unhealthy, co-dependent union between two women who both have severe emotional problems. Ann Patchett wrote an article for New York Magazine following the death of her friend Lucy Grealy; this book is simply a longer version of that article. Patchett cannot stop reiterating how everybody loved Lucy, how so many people were enamoured of her, 'so many people in love with her'. In reality, Grealy comes across as being very much alone. I get the impression that people viewed her as a sort of interesting novelty because of her history of illness and facial disfigurement, and that's why she got a fair amount of attention from various types of people. Certainly people were not attracted to her because of her sterling character. Even Patchett, who is bizarrely devoted to Grealy no matter how abominably she behaves, admits that Lucy was frequently awful. Lucy was the roommate from hell; she left all the cooking and cleaning duties to Patchett, while she herself left bowls of Cream of Wheat on the floor, left wet towels under pillows and runs up huge phone bills. After Patchett moves into a house with a boyfriend, Grealy, for some unexplained reason, gets a key to the place, which enables her to bring men there and have sex with them in Patchett and the boyfriends's bed. After doing so, she tells Patchett all about it...some friend! Despite Patchett's protestions about how wonderful Lucy is, I find Lucy to be downright unbearable; self-absorbed, reckless, promiscuous, thoughtless, and psychotically needy. Over and over she asks Patchett 'do you love me?'; over and over she is jumping into Patchett's arms, wrapping her legs around her waist, leaning her head on her shoulder, crawling into bed with her, hanging on to her as a limpet to a rock. Grealy is morbidly jealous on any relationship Patchett has with anyone else be they male or female. When Patchett wants to work with a woman named Betsy, she asks for Grealy's permission! Patchett does literally everything for Grealy; she gives, gives gives, while Grealy takes, takes, takes. What sense can be made of this? The only thing I can figure is that Patchett is a person who needs to be used. Grealy was a master at doing this, so no wonder Patchett was hooked on this creepy 'friendship' that seems more like a marriage. One final note: Grealy's sister Suellen, has some choice words about this book. You can read about her views in The Guardian Review. She is understandable upset by what she feels is the exploitation of her sister by Ann Patchett (who she does not regard as a very skilled writer) and by how her family has been portrayed since Grealy's death. Patchett remarked to Suellen that she has been working, writing, and living in 'the Lucy factory' and discussed film rights. Crass.

3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Fascinating & Thought Provoking - Writing at it's Best

This book left me thinking, long after I'd finished the last page, about the human longing for recognition and "true love", and about where the roots of depression lie. The most interesting aspect of the story to me, was the fact that Lucy spent her life searching for something that was illusive to her. Although she evidently had many, many people who loved her, their love was never enough to fill the void for Lucy, and this was the true driving force of her life. I wondered, too, on a less philosophical note, about what role eating little but sugar & alcohol played in Lucy's depression. Ann Patchett has illuminated Lucy's complex mix of extreme intelligence, narcissism, insecurity, wit, and charisma in a beautifully written love letter, that captivates. It's a warts and all tribute to a fascinating friendship between two talented and intelligent women.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

One of a kind and enchanting

I read this book with a mix of emotions: I was frequently thrilled by the construction of a sentence while being saddened by the story it told. But the bottom line is that I loved it. Loved it in the unique kind of way that such a sad story can be loved. I loved Ann's courageousness to share such intimate, probably often painful memories. I loved the fact that anyone even wrote a memoir about friendship - one of the truest, most oft unsung staples of life. I find myself wishing that I could have a long gab with Ann and ask her more about Lucy or about her other friends. I feel like she understands both friendships and writing, which makes her book a remarkable offering. Yes, be prepared for a peek into a unuiqe relationship. Yes, be prepared for some sadness. Yes, have your phone handy to call up your best friend and tell him/her that you love him/her. But don't close your mind because of tears or differences. Let Ann and Lucy's friendship take you by storm, and enjoy it.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Heartbreaking and beautiful

This book was beautiful, heartbreaking, honest, raw, funny, and everything in between. The story of a perfectly imperfect friendship between two perfectly imperfect women. You can't read it without thinking of your best girlfriends and you come out of it loving and appreciating them all a little bit more.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Ann Patchett is a great author, and an even greater friend...

I have read everything Ann Patchett has written, and I knew that she was an amazing author, but to hear in her own words the level of friendship that she offered to Lucy Grealy, it took my breath away at times. As an author, I always thought she was someone I'd also like to know, but now I think I'd like her as my best friend, too! Great book.

Diasppointing...I expected more.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Interesting..

Wow. :)

Interesting............

I found myself wanting to read this, but yet struggled doing so. The friendship was strong and with so much inner turmoil that it almost
made me crazy. I have had a close friend who was as needy, and I had to back far a way, so I understood the pull Ann and Lucy had with their friendship.

Truth and Beauty

I love the way Ann Patchett writes. I think her use of language is crisp and descriptive. However, this is not an easy read. I'm glad I read it, and the book is a testament to friendship, but sometimes the friendship was such a burden that I wondered how it was sustained.

Ann Patchett is exceptional and captivating!

I devoured a chapter a night - couldn't wait to read the next one. She definately keeps the reader stimulated.

Stunning!

I read this book slowly and didn't want to put it down. Patchett's memoir is a beautiful tribute to all that is friendship and something inexplicably more. While the two never share a sexual relationship their relationship is everything women want in their girlfriends. It made me re-evaluate how I look at mine and suddenly I felt illuminated. It is a must read and a must have. Simply lovley.

Absolutely Beautiful

This amazing book is about two womens' unconditional love for one another and their life together. Patchett did an excellent job with this biography and she writes with such skill and beauty. I fell in love with this book from page one. I would sit and read it for hours and then reread. This book inspired and motivated me in ways other books can not even breach. It takes my breath away!

'and that was my mistake'

a powerful book about unconditional love. What made it even better, and why it touched me so much, was that every word of it was true. sad, but beautiful.

What a friendship!

For two women to have such a friendship is a bona fide gift to us readers. This book makes me evaluate my relationships and search for how to make them stronger via Ann and Lucy's understanding of one another. This is truly a beautiful book.

Good book but the story needed more depth.

This was a good read but was too single dimensional. Lucy was a charismatic individual. When Ann first met her, Lucy was quite popular. Ann on the other hand, was not. It was easy to understand the attraction for Ann to bask in Lucy's sunshine. However,it was amazing that their daily connection lasted for so long even after they moved far away from each other. Ann's continued patience with Lucy's neediness and self absorbed behavior probably was either untrue or a sign of a mental problem with Ann. Because of Lucy's constant insecurity about being loved, it was unusual that she didn't talk much about her childhood or family. She had a twin sister that she hardly talked about. This was annoying considering that Lucy was disfigured and I assumed her sister was not. Lucy must have given thought to this but it was not mentioned.Also Lucy had a brother and that was only noted once. It was unusual that when she was in the hospital surrounded by so many friends, there was no mention of the lack of her family nearby. It isn't that they didn't care at all because at various times they gave her money but not much of their time. Lucy didn't seem concerned with that. For someone feeling so unloved yet having a million close friends,her longing or lack of longing for family ties left a vacancy. Finally, Ann's patience and commitment was too pure. It was obvious she was the author. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book. I looked forward to reading it. It was not a superficial novel. It painted fairly clear pictures of the characters and their motivations but I would have enjoyed it more if it answered some of the holes in the story.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Worth the Read

This is a lovely but sad story of what and how we perceive ourselves and those around us.

a little disappointed

There was a couple chapters that were boring but for the most part the book was ok. It made me feel sad for lucy and it was kind of depressing.

=(

My Opinion i honestly can say i thought this book was disturbing it had good parts but for the most part it was sad.