As Ann Patchett once told Publisher’s Weekly, all of her novels are based on one idea: “A group of strangers are thrown together by chance and form a society.” As a broad range of factors, including technology, has made much less of the world feel distant or remote, it becomes more essential to explore that concept in depth. Patchett’s 2016 book Commonwealth investigates the idea through the lens of a family whose complicated history gets turned into a bestselling book by an outsider. Even if you haven’t read the book, that might bring up some interesting questions — is there any family whose history isn’t complicated? Thursday, you’ll have an opportunity to ask Patchett herself, when she kicks off the spring semester of Vanderbilt’s Visiting Writers series. STEPHEN TRAGESER
Vanderbilt Visiting Writers Series: Ann Patchett, Author of Commonwealth
