Review: Ann Patchett writes about fathers, grief and New York in her most intimate novel yet

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Book ReviewWhistler By Ann Patchett Harper: 304 pages, $30If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.At the recent glitzy PEN Ameerica Literary Gala at the Natural History Museum in New York City the evening’s MC, B.J.Novak, declared that the crowd was there to celebrate more than just freedom of speech — they were there for “literary glamour.” “Writing is glamorous,” he declared.

“Reading is glamorous.” For Novak, bestselling novelist Ann Patchett — who has also worked tirelessly on behalf of independent booksellers and in support of her fellow writers, and was one of the event’s honored guests — epitomizes that allure.“I think it’s great that Ann Patchett is a smoke show.

She doesn’t have to be,” he quipped.“It’s just cool that she is.” With “Whistler,” Patchett’s 10th novel, she definitively proves that the “smoke show” moniker, if at all relevant, is icing on the cake.

This exquisite writer has once again delivered an incandescent work of fiction — sweet, but never sentimental, infinitely wise and suffused with love.It’s also an ode to New York City itself.

Books Novelist Ann Patchett talked about her books and bookstore with Times columnist Steve Lopez.“Whistler” is narrated by protagonist Daphne Fuller, a 54-year-old English teacher married to Jonathan, a restlessly retired doctor and hospital administrator who dotes on his wife and whom he regards as “extraordinary.” When we first encounter the couple, they’re roaming the Metropolitan Museum of Art — which, one gets the sense, they know by heart.As Daphne ponders the sculpture “Two Horses,” by Charles Ray, Jonathan spots an elderly stranger eyeing his wife, casting glances in her direction.

The stranger follows them from room to room fixated on Daphne.Jonathan’s cu...