TRUTH AND BEAUTY by Ann Patchett

I frequently recommend Lucy Grealy's poignant memoir, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FACE, to my 8th grade students (and other readers, both adult and teen). Grealy--charismatic, talented, troubled--committed suicide in 2002. Patchett was her roommate in grad school and her best friend until Grealy's death. In TRUTH AND BEAUTY, Patchett tells Grealy's story, and the story of their friendship. For all Patchett's success as a novelist, she seems to feel that Grealy was the more talented writer. This lovely book dispells that notion. I've also enjoyed several of Patchett's novels.