"Ann Patchett doesn't just write books, like her latest bestseller, Commonwealth; she sells them," CBS Sunday Morning observed on yesterday's program, which featured Patchett giving 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl a tour of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tenn., the store that Patchett co-owns. "As you might expect from a novelist, there's a good story behind Parnassus Books, and it's one that's bigger than just one brick-and-mortar retailer," CBS Sunday Morning noted.
The story had its roots at Winter Institute 2017, when Patchett conducted an interview of Stahl on the occasion of the publication of her book Becoming Grandma. At one point, Patchett pitched Stahl on a 60 Minutes story about independent bookstores and "about this industry and how surprisingly successful it is."