What Now?

Written by Ann Patchett

Narrated by Ann Patchett

""The best graduation present on the market.... A wise, generous and compact primer for life that could well become a touchstone, readers will return to this book, and probably find something new each time they do; deserves to be given often and enthusiastically."" --Publishers Weekly

Based on her lauded commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College, this stirring essay by bestselling author Ann Patchett offers hope and inspiration for anyone at a crossroads, whether graduating, changing careers, or transitioning from one life stage to another. With wit and candor, Patchett tells her own story of attending college, graduating, and struggling with the inevitable question, What now?

From student to line cook to teacher to waitress and eventually to award-winning author, Patchett's own life has taken many twists and turns that make her exploration genuine and resonant. As Patchett writes, ""'What now?' represents our excitement and our future, the very vitality of life."" She highlights the possibilities the unknown offers and reminds us that there is as much joy in the journey as there is in reaching the destination.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 15, 2008
• ISBN: 9780061632341

Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett is the author of novels, works of nonfiction, and children’s books. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the PEN/Faulkner, the Women’s Prize for Fiction in the UK, and the Book Sense Book of the Year. Her novel The Dutch House was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages, and Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. President Biden awarded her the National Humanities Medal in recognition of her contributions to American culture. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the owner of Parnassus Books.

Reviews for What Now?

[aliastori · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved the postscript and am very glad that she trashed the original keynote address. This one was lovely, as are the author's books.

[deldevries · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Listened in the 2 days before graduation, May 2009. Excellent story of change and growing up. What Now is always a work in progress, where the journey is the story - not the destination!

[Marsha FitzGerald · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am so glad that I heard this and I shall hear it again and perhaps again. Although my personal experience differed in many ways from Ms. Patchett’s, so many points resonated with me. I wish she spoke at my graduation! I have family and friends with whom I shall share this!

[fliss88_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable but I didn’t find it stirring. A quick read, based on her speech, given to a leaving senior class.

[indygo88 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a short audio, an extension of the author's commencement speech at her alma mater, Sara Lawrence College. She revisits her arrival on campus, her struggle to figure out "What now?" after graduation, and reiterates that the finding is part of the journey, whether that be right away or several years down the road. It's a quick but satisfying read.

[benkline · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A nice, thoughtful, relatable, and interesting (and inspiring) commencement speech by Ann Patchett to the class of Sarah Lawrence. Its a super quick read (basically because all it is, is a 15-20 minute speech plus a little post-script). Worth the quick read, many will find it enlightening, or at least interesting. Good for college age people as their entering the "real world".

[nancynova · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

rabck from Rhonder; a beautiful, though-provoking book. I loved the liberal use of pictures throughout the book, illustrating the "what now?" point

[unclesamz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have read none of Ms. Patchett's other writings nor heard her speech. The direct personal message she offers here should resonate with certain personalities ready to hear her, or may simply lodge in their memories for later contemplation. I like who this author presents as a person. She identifies a type who is willing to wait and who responds to messages from others, but with an underlying drift of her own commitment to the dream of being an author. I see validation for the great number of us who labor in the field, perhaps learning how to stare into meaning. I look forward to meeting this person again, perhaps when I read something else she has written.

[mawls · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Quick read that was once a graduation speech about how if you're lucky you'll always be asking yourself throughout life "what now?"

[debnance_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ann Patchett gave a commencement speech at Sarah Lawrence College that was so widely regarded that it ended up as this book. I liked this part: “The secret is finding the balance between going out to get what you want and being open to the thing that actually winds up coming your way. What now is not just a panic-stricken question tossed out into a dark unknown. What now can also be our joy. It is a declaration of possibility, of promise, of chance. It acknowledges that our future is open, that we may well do more than anyone expected of us, that at every point in our development we are still striving to grow.”

[briantomlin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A simple book that takes on an important subject: how do I decide what to do with my life? With humility and wisdom, Ann Patchett reminds us that ourlives are unpredictable. That education, status, and the labels placed onus by ourselves and others only tell part of the story. The paradox that we have to figure our paths out for ourselves and yet "the truth is that we need to hear other people, all people, especially in those moments when we don't know exactly where we're going ourselves (p.35)."

Based on a college commencement address, this is a great book for anyone who is searching, puzzled, stuck, disillusioned or disappointed.

[edwin6gleaves · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Portions read by author at Southern Festival of Books, Nashville, October 2008. Worth hearing and reading.

[msimelda · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I believe it you had been present at the commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College on which Ann Patchett based this book, the speech would have moved you. Reading it in a book - didn't move me.

That been said, I think an 11th grade (junior) student would find relief in reading that all students this age are troubled by the phrase "where are you going to college?

[sailornate82 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A tiny, but interesting book that aims to instill an appreciation and openness to uncertainty. There are no profound prompts for introspection, just a general alleviation of anxiety for those experiencing disarray during a crisis of identity.

The photos undermine seriousness of the writing by inundating the reader with trite, corny photos evoking feelings of misdirection and confusion.

However, as someone who currently relates to Patchett's stories of emotional and geographic dislocation during the many quixotic passages of one's life, there is relevance for those who feel similarly.