"This is the Story of a Happy Marriage" is a new book by Ann Patchett.

Anything else Ms. Patchett has written is the best advertisement for her new collection of nonfiction.Her speeches and essays all have unusual frankness and drawing power.Ms. Patchett has a beguiling style that makes her sound like someone you would want to know.Her new book, "This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage," reinforces the impression of an uncommonly kind person who is not above self-interest but loves books, her grandmother, the toughest nun who taught her in grade school and her darling dog.

Was it mush?Hardly.Ms. Patchett has had the courage to assemble both the hackish pieces she has written for Vogue, which do a sunny job of reinforcing what the reader wants to think, with freer, more soul-searching work from The Atlantic Monthly andHarper's.It would be very easy to guess if these pieces were not identified by source.Ms. Patchett started writing magazine articles at an early age, and she nailed the tricks of that trade so well that they are worth showing off.In a long piece for Byliner, she shows off her accumulated prowess by delivering a veritable clearinghouse of practical advice.

Ms. Patchett credits the luck of the draw with giving her Grace Paley, Allan Gurganus and Russell Banks as writing teachers.She says in the book that if you want to write, sit at your desk every day.Start with 20 minutes.You can work up to two hours.She says that during that time, you don't have to write, but you must stay at your desk.Sit quietly.For a week and a half.Do not check your email.You can either sit and write or you can quit.Ms. Patchett says you will have your answer.

In her first novel, "The Patron Saint of Liars," Ms. Patchett says she was going to save herself from the life of waitressing when she wrote it, and she believes in telling straightforward stories.She says that you don't drown a character and then try to understand why it happened.You think about the causes and consequences before the event.She writes about the most memorable subjects in "This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage" all but one of which are either alive or dead.Ms. Patchett remembers those that are dead.

Ms. Patchett opened Parnassus Books in Nashville with a business partner who did a lot of the heavy lifting.It is one of the topics that is touched on more than once.In "My Life in Sales," Ms. Patchett tries to convince herself that the process of going on a book tour is necessary in order to sell her book.In the early days of book marketing, crowds went crazy when Julia Child made mayonnaise in a blender at a Boston department store.The whole idea seems wrong to Ms. Patchett.