When Tom Hanks reached out to request a blurb for his short story collection, Ann Patchett wasn’t expecting it to change her life, let alone save the life of Tom’s assistant Sooki. What happened next became the basis for a major new essay, 20,000 words long, which is due to be published in Harper magazine this January. Patchett’s second essay collection THESE PRECIOUS DAYS takes its cue from this lead essay, and opens out into a witty and moving collection of pieces, long and short, about friends and family, writing and reading, and, of course, Ann’s bookstore Parnassus.