Taft audiobook

I had low expectations…. (was told it was Ann’s weakest link novel)….But I was pleasantly surprised. I became immersed in the story — and invested with the characters right away. Ann Patchett can’t do bad … can’t write bad … so even though it’s not “Bel Canto” or my recent favorite “These Precious Days” …this was still good!!I’ve one more Ann Patchett novel to read … “The Patron Saints of Liars”.

A Girl walked into the bar. What a great opening line. Right away it had me asking questions.This is the fourth Patchett novel I have read and one of her earliest. While not as good as Bel Canto or State of Wonder it is still a very enjoyable read. John Nickel lives in Memphis and is an ex jazz drummer and current bar manager. The girl that walks into his bar is Fay Taft and through her we meet her brother Carl. John over identifies with these two troubled teenagers who have recently and very suddenly lost their father. Perhaps this is because John’s on again, off again, girlfriend Marion has relocated to Miami, thereby separating him from his own young son.Over time John’s involvement with Fay and Carl takes him down a twisted, dangerous path and he begins to obsess over the imagined life and death of their Father.This story meets it’s conclusion in a very open ended way so if you are one of those people that want all their questions answered and all the ends tied up, this one will likely frustrate you. As for me I found it to be quite a stunning achievement.

I came across my first Ann Patchett novel in the early 2000s–her fourth and possibly most popular novel, Bel Canto. Since then I have sporadically read some of her more recent novels, but I had never read her earliest works. This fall, when Hurricane Irma was threatening south Florida and the school where I was teaching closed for the week, I drove north to ride the storm out in Nashville. That just happens to be where Ann Patchett’s independent bookstore, Parnassus Books, is. I had never visited, so it was a good opportunity. It’s a wonderful store and almost enough of a reason to move to Nashville. If I lived there, I’d be there every week. I picked up signed editions of her first three novels and one other I had missed over the years, and so I’ve decided to read through all of her works again and fill in those gaps. I screwed up the order, however, and started with Taft, which is actually her second novel (1994). It’s the story of a former blues drummer, Joe Nickel, who now manages a well-known Memphis blues bar on Beale Street, Muddy’s. Joe works too many hours because his nine-year-old son, Franklin, has moved to Miami with his mother. Joe’s lonely for him and his “fatherhood” is very much the focus of the novel. When Fay Taft and her brother Carl show up in his bar, and enter his life, he emotionally adopts them, but it becomes a very intricate and confused emotional tangle. Along the way, Joe learns that Taft, their father, has recently died, and Joe spends a lot of time trying to imagine what their lives were like together in the small east Tennessee town where they lived before arriving recently in Memphis. While I don’t believe this is Patchett’s finest novel, I’m still taken with her prose and the way she lays out emotional family dramas. She blends humor, pathos, and enough suspense that Taft is ultimately a quick read and already demonstrates the terrific style for which she’s become known throughout her career. (I also happen to adore her nonfiction.)So if you’ve read Bel Canto, or more recently, Commonwealth, consider her earlier novels as well. I’m looking forward to reading the other three very soon.

Ann Patchett's, "Taft," is the third book that I have read by this supremely talented writer that I wish never ended. All and All, I have read seven of her books and the one thing they all have in common is fantastic characters, wonderful stories, and superb writing.One of the main features of Leonardo DA Vinci's paintings, a feature that sets him apart from almost all other painters and sculptors, is that there is nothing in a DA Vinci painting, whether it be a sleeping dog, a baby in a crib, the grass beneath a character's feet, or the blue of the sky above that is not alive and in motion. There is nothing stationary, everything has life and as you look at his works it is hard not to say to yourself what is that dog going to do next, or is the sky slowly going to turn grey.That is one of the great characterizations of Ms. Patchett's works. In "Taft," a girl who walks into a bar, shy and with her head down, with skin so light that it is almost transparent, and who could probably be 10 or possibly 18 years old and seems completely harmless, but with the passage of a little time you are suddenly expecting her to do something crazy and when she doesn't you breath a sigh of relief. Ms. Patchett's characters, like a Da Vinci subject, is full of possibilities, despite appearances. I have often called her characters energized as though they are on steroids, and that is as true in "Taft," as in all her novels that I have read."Taft" is a study of fatherhood with two parallel stories, one in first character narrative and the other in third person narrative, that brings to light the importance of fathers in the life of their children, whether they be boys or girls.It is just another example of the extraordinary talent that Ms. Patchett possesses, whether her novel is taken place in a bar in Memphis like in "Taft" or a home run by nuns for unwed mothers in Kentucky. Highly, highly recommend.

The writing is a 4, the story, more 3/3.5 for me.I really like the writing in this book and connected immediately to John Nichol, the narrator. John is a drummer who is managing a bar to provide income for his child and ex. He hires a young waitress, Fay and her, Carl, starts hanging around. Fay and Carl have a lot of baggage, and are grieving the death of their father "Taft." John is black and Fay and Carl are white, and race is a theme in the story.Ultimately this is a story about father's love. John worries about and misses his son who lives with his ex. He starts imagining what Fay and Carl's life was like before their father died.My quibble is that when John starts imagining the Taft family before the death the transitions are abrupt and often lost me. And, there are times it reads like some strange ESP or voice from beyond. I had to re-read the last few chapters, thinking I missed something.

I liked this book. I also like the fact that I’m finally making it through all of Ann Patchett’s books; something I set out to accomplish about 18 years ago. The only one I have left to read is “Commonwealth” which I have on hold at the library. Taft is Patchett’s second novel, written in 1994. Having not read anything about the book and the image on the cover being that of a bridge I had no idea who was telling the story, but I liked the voice, which ended up being a black, ex-jazz musician, John Nickel. Most of the story takes place in the bar where he works in Memphis. But the main interest starts when Fay walks into the bar.Later her brother Carl arrives on the scene, and I knew he would mean trouble. Early on I had guessed that Carl would do what he did in the bar. As I read, I kept waiting for it to happen, and it did, though I just didn’t have all the details worked out.The story was a bit confusing in the switching back and forth, to the story of Fay and Carl’s father, Taft. Especially strange toward the end of the book when “I” (the main character) am in the bathtub witnessing the death of Taft. I think it’s sometimes a requirement of “literary fiction” to be confusing. At least that my experience and opinion anyway.But all in all, I enjoyed this read!

3.5 stars, rounded upAnn Patchett’s second novel features John Nickel, who manages a Beale Street bar in Memphis, and longs for the young son whose mother moved him away to Florida. Enter Fay Taft, a young woman Nickel suspects is underage but nevertheless hires as a bar waitress. Fay has her volatile, sketchy younger brother in tow, and Nickel soon finds himself reluctantly caught up in their drama. The novel has a somewhat puzzling structure. It’s named after the orphaned siblings’ father, dead far before his time, who is first introduced to the reader as Nickel imagines scenes from his life, but then (I think?) in more straightforward flashbacks. Patchett excels at creating some extended dramatic action involving the bar, even if the climactic scene was signalled too unsubtly in advance. (I knew it was a question of when, not if.) As with her first novel, The Patron Saint of Liars, I thought Patchett did not always completely successfully bring the disparate parts together, but on the whole a commendable sophomore effort.

Actually, 3.5 stars. I was casting about and discovered a couple of Ann Patchett novels I had not read so decided to correct that problem. This one is short and very well written but the ending was a disappointment in terms of resolution - 5 or 6 threads of the story just left hanging and unresolved. (Like life, I suppose, but doesn't mean I have to like it!)Ever met Ann or seen her picture? Petite, slender, pretty white woman. As I read this story, I could not help but imagine the "PC chorus" carping that she has no right to co-opt a story from a black man's perspective. Sorry folks, I disagree, talented imaginative writers are able to translate those elements of humanity common to all of us and she does a great job.

Taft by Ann Patchett is a gently written story that I enjoyed immensely. A girl walked into a bar. This is a provocative opening to the story. It instantly brought up questions. How old? Why did she walk into the bar?Who is she?The bar is managed by John Nickles. John is black and had been a jazz musician. He lost his son who had given meaning to his life as the boys mother had before she conceived. When John was finally ok with it the situation was already to late. John Nickel is frought with doubts, tempted, and then consumed with the dead man Taft. Taft was the father of the two children John takes in. These lost waifs take John on many dangerous paths. One being that the children are white. The story is left open at the ending. For those who don't just like to peak in on the lives of others this would not please them. I like to fill out the story for myself from many different angles. It reminds me of the story of The Lady and the Tiger. I ended up with my own living answer. I chose the lady. But that's another story.

I was worried as I was going to the earlier books in the Ann Patchett canon, that I would find them less interesting, or less well-written. I, of course, was wrong. Taft is the story of a man named John Nickel, who runs a bar in Memphis Tennessee. When we first meet him, he is first meeting a girl named Fay, and hiring her to be a waitress. That this is a mistake is some thing that Nickel knows almost immediately, but why it’s a mistake makes for a very interesting story.Here we have another of Ann Patchett’s ad hoc families. Two, in fact. John’s bar family, and his former partner’s family. Marion was never his wife, but she is the mother to his only son, Franklin. Franklin, it seems, is the only person Nickel loves in the whole world.When Fay reveals that she has a brother named Carl, and Carl starts coming around to the bar, Nickel finds himself in the odd position of surrogate father - first to Carl, then to Fay. There are so many complications in this arrangement; not the least of which is that Carl and Fay Taft’s father is dead. In trying to make some sense if his own messy relationship with Marion, and his need to connect more with his son, Nickel weaves a story about Taft, his own surrogate, in the days before Taft’s death. This is a novel about fatherhood, and how being a good father is sometimes knowing when to get help. The front story of Nickel and Marion and Cyndi from the bar is fantastic, but so is the invented story of Taft, and what happens when you ignore the warning signs of some catastrophic event. Pstchett’s love of created families, false histories, and strange parents seems to begin here, though I do have one novel left. Once more!

Thank you Ann Patchett for introducing me to John Nichol, an ex-jazz drummer now manager of a blues bar in Memphis. John is a wonderful, intricately drawn character. A loving father to his now 9 year old son, John is struggling to come to terms with the boy's mother having taken him away to Miami.. The whole novel is told from John's point of view. We come to know him well, how purely good his soul is. No, John is not perfect and he's the first to recognize that but he is pure of heart, trusting and kind. His life takes a major turn when he hires a young white girl to waitress at the bar. She inserts herself into John's life along with her problem brother, both teenagers struggling after the death of their father. John is sympathetic to the two of them. So sympathetic that he elaborately fills in the blanks of their life with their father, how much he loved and cared for them before he died. Unfortunately for John this deep relationship he's formed with Fay, Carl and their dead father Levon Taft leads to trouble and a hair-raising conclusion to this little novel. An amazing story and a wonderful read. Ann Patchett creates more magic again in this, one of her earlier novels. She rarely disappoints. Highly recommended.

First stop from the Smokeys to New Orleans was Ann's bookstore in Nashville. I picked up this book because the setting along the Mississippi resonated with a trip that really started at the Natchez Trace (or maybe Parnassus). I've been to and through Memphis many times... And sense of place is so important in life and these stories. Rarely do I give a book 5 stars. Ann's characters were effortless, especially in a time when our country continues to reel from the senseless deaths of our black family. The dichotomy and tension between white and black were timely this summer... But on my travels I saw the contrary. We are One Nation. When we strip away labels people become PEOPLE and honoring their humanity and dignity becomes all the easier. Deep South- that is your gift to me... That no matter the political strife, when it comes to day to day interactions, we still honor and respect each other. That is my hope and dream for us and I believe it is the seed for our future. Thank you Ann for your books and bookstore! I do look forward to reading more of your books. Which treat is lurking next? Bel Canto!

I found this at a bargain bookseller this summer, and I had never even heard of it. The plot and style are more in line with Patchett's Run than with some of her later novels. The characterization, as is usual for this author, is strong. Even minor characters are easy to imagine. I wanted more from the main character, though. At the end, I still wondered about his unwillingness to really fight for that which he loves. However, one of the most powerful passages in the book, is "It wasn't possible for me to look after all of them, not every day, every minute, the way they needed looking after. The thing was, you had to choose. Pick one job and do it right. I was picking Franklin."With this statement, Patchett pulls together the parallel story of fathers she has been telling, and perhaps adds insight to some of the tragic events of the book.

At the beginning of Taft, Ann Patchett’s fascinating and complex novel of human relationships, protagonist John Nickel is enjoying a “stable” life. However, that stability is characterized by all sorts of qualifications. Nickel is separated from his wife, Marion, and young son, Franklin; he is a former drummer that played the bars in Memphis; and he is now running a bar called Muddy’s staffed by an oddball mix of staff. Nevertheless, his life does seem to follow some kind of routine day after day without too much drama.That latter commodity is introduced—and soon escalated off the charts!—by Fay Taft who comes to Muddy’s looking for a waitressing job, which Nickel gives her despite some misgivings about her age. She is a quick learner and turns out to be a good, reliable worker. She soon begins showing up to work with her brother, Carl, who is jittery, but appears content to hang around Muddy’s waiting for Fay to finish work. Nickel begins to concoct an imagined story about the life of Fay and Carl’s now-deceased father, Taft. In an experimental vein, Patchett allows Nickel to relate his imaginings to the reader, leaving it to the reader to interpret whether Nickel somehow has real facts or purely imagined fantasies.Another dramatic ingredient is introduced when Franklin suffers a terrible accident, which is enough for Marion to consider moving from Florida back to Memphis. From this point, the drama escalates exponentially: Carl turns out to have a dark side, which could get not only Nickel in trouble, but a lot of other people as well. Fay, significantly younger than Nickel, develops romantic notions about Nickel. And not only does Marion surface back in Memphis, but so does her look-alike sister Ruth.Patchett has assembled a cast of very credible characters, whose interactions with one another peel back layers of their mundane needs and desperate aspirations, their dark demons and deep flaws. The drama peaks with sudden violence and Nickel wondering how he got himself in this human quagmire. Meanwhile, Patchett cleverly unfolds a complete story of Taft—as imagined by John Nickel—and deftly weaves Nickel’s and Taft’s stories together throughout the novel. In the early part of the book, readers should be prepared to determine an interesting…and dare I say it?…a surprising fact about Nickel.The already fast-paced story accelerates over the last quarter of the book with increased tensions and thrills that fill readers with an exquisite blend of emotion: a sense of loose ends being tied up satisfactorily, while, simultaneously, not wanting the novel to end. But end it does, of course, and readers will not be disappointed. Ann Patchett’s writing is elegant and sharp and fluid, and is a pleasure to read. [Note: If readers are encountering Patchett for the first time, and enjoying her, this reviewer heartily recommends several of her other novels, namely, The Patron Saint of Liars, Bel Canto, State of Wonder, and Commonwealth.)