Set on both sides of the Atlantic, On Beauty is a brilliant take on family life, the institution of marriage, intersections of the personal and polotical, and an honest look at people's deceptions. It is also very funny indeed.
A young man named Dorian Gray has a portrait painted of himself. The artist and another friend convince Dorian that the only important thing in life is beauty, which causes Dorian great distress as he realises that he must age and therefore lose his beauty. To prevent such a catastrophe he sells his soul in exchange for the ability to remain young and attractive forever. But something sinister is lurking in the portrait which he had painted of himself
Ann Patchett and Lucy Grealy met in college in 1981, and after enrolling in the Iowa Writer's Workshop began a friendship that would be as defining to both of their lives as their work. In her critically acclaimed memoir, Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy wrote about the first half of her life. In Truth & Beauty, the story isn't Lucy's life or Ann's life but the parts of their lives they shared together. This is a portrait of unwavering commitment that spans 20 years, from the long cold winters of the Midwest to surgical wards to book parties in New York.
Beauty, I love you. Do you love me? Will you marry me” What should she say? She was afraid of him…And so she said, No, Beast. You are kind but I don’t love you. And I don’t want to marry you. At this the Beast let out a roar of anger and pain. “Why don’t you love me? Am I so ugly?! He shouted at the terrified Beauty and left the room…
