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Totally Booked with ZibbyTalking about books is really talking about life. Author: Zibby Owens
For nearly a decade, Totally Booked with Zibby has been one of publishing's premier podcasts and a regular stop on book tours for today's biggest authors. Hosted by bestselling author, bookstore owner, and publisher Zibby Owens, the show has featured more than 2,000 conversations with bestselling authors, actors, athletes, chefs, musicians, and entrepreneurs.Known for her warmth, empathy, and genuine curiosity, Zibby has a gift for asking the questions that lead to unforgettable conversations. What begins with the book leads to talks about creativity, ambition, love, loss, family, resilience, and reinvention. With thousands of episodes and dozens of industry honors, Totally Booked with Zibby reminds us all that talking about books is really talking about life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Language: en Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Ann Patchett on Whistler, Blended Family Narratives, and the Enduring Legacy of Love
Episode 82
Friday, 13 November, 2026
Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author Ann Patchett chats with Zibby Owens live at the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Cultural Center about her majestic eleventh novel, Whistler. Ann shares how the narrative sparks to life inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art when 53-year-old Daphne Fuller unexpectedly comes face-to-face with Eddie Triplett, the beloved former stepfather she hasn't seen since a traumatic car accident shattered her childhood over forty years prior. She explains how their chance meeting causes time to fall away, acting as a luminous testament to how being truly known by just one person—even for a brief period—can shape the entire trajectory of a life.Ann pulls back the curtain on her creative process, revealing how she moved the book's opening from the elevator-bound Whitney Museum to The Met's grand staircases. She also reflects on the autobiographical-adjacent nature of her work, the profound piece of advice her ex-LAPD father gave her to never engage with unwanted conflict, and the symbolic meaning behind the novel's title and its cover horse, Whistler. Finally, she opens up about dedicating the book to her late, dear friend Jim Fox and shares the comforting, perspective-shifting wisdom her mother passed down after an early divorce: that an ending in a relationship does not mean it was a failure.Learn more about Ann here. You can purchase Whistler here.*********A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now! Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.Listen on Spotify here.Listen on Apple here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
