...All ye know on Earth, and all ye need to know

No, I'm not referring to knowledge of the current status of Brad and Angelina's relationship (though the prevalence of their media coverage sometimes makes it seem that way). I'm referring to John Keats' poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn", one of the few pleasant things I recall from my junior English class with Mrs. McLaggan. Keats writes: "Beauty is truth, truth beauty. That is all ye know on Earth, and all ye need to know." After reading Ann Patchett's most recent book, a memoir of her friendship with fellow author Lucy Grealy, I can't help but agree with Keats.

Truth & Beauty, Patchett's fifth book, has the same luminous writing as her novels, giving the reader the feeling of walking into someone else's daydream. But this time, it's reality that captivates, as the author recalls the years she spent living with and caring for and being inspired by Lucy, a wisp of a woman who danced through life with abandon and hunger.

Lucy and Ann were friends for more than 20 years. Knowing someone that long, who knows you well, is such a blessing; you get to see yourself through their eyes. A good friend can be a wonderfully flattering spyglass through which to view yourself. Through Ann's spyglass, Lucy was exuberant, open, and talented.

However, as Patchett doesn't neglect to show, Lucy was also incredibly insecure and required near-constant emotional maintenance and bolstering. One never gets the impression of Lucy as burdensome, however, because Patchett's every description with her is filled with such tremendous love. Instead, you get the sense that the author feels lucky for every demand Lucy made on her.

Isn't that how we all feel about our friends? Having a good friend, an Ann Shirley-style "kindred spirit", makes you feel lucky, like you won a prize without even entering the drawing. Reading this book made me miss my friends acutely--the ridiculous, inexplicable in-jokes; the wholehearted and honest joy at their successes; the unselfconscious kitchen dancing; the comfort and support when one's plans go awry.

I also felt a stab of regret at the friendships I've let slip away over the years. For Ann, being friends with Lucy was hard, but so fulfilling that she managed to keep it up for more than twenty years - several of those years across an ocean, and across state lines for years after that. I've lost friends over less than that. It can be so easy to not make the effort when an effort is required to maintain a friendship. Truth & Beauty makes me feel that by not making the effort, I may have missed out on one thing that makes life worth living.

We all need reminders of those things every once in a while. I'm glad I got mine reading this book.