I went in for my, I had cancer last year and I had to go in every three months from my scans.

So I went in for my scans and everything looks good.

That's great.

It's great, Ben.

With my oncologist, I thought to ask her today, I was like, hey, so if I hadn't come in for treatment, would I be dead yet?

And she was like, yeah.

Wow. And I was like, so I'm running on your time now, huh? And she was like, I guess so. I was like, thanks. I appreciate it. I like life. It's pretty good. That's a good question to ask. Well, at some point, you're just like, man, like I got life back. Like I'd be dead. Feels good. I imagine. Yeah,

everything. Well, this conversation feels pretty small and trivial related. It doesn't because you know, don't fool yourself, Evan. Of the things that we live for, like the things that make

life good, just heartbeat beating and eyes open is not

really doing a whole lot for you you know it's it's it's everybody in all the communities and and

you know the things that make life great that's worth uh we're kicking it you know yes someone famous

who i can't remember said you know science is how we live and art is why we live. That's great. That is great. Yeah, that's it. And I appreciate your book. You know, I live in Nashville where Parnassas is. I've been there several times. You know, we got, we got the book shop in our neighborhood. That's, that's the one that I tend to go through because it's in East Nashville. Yeah. But Parnassus is something, it was an enigma already when I moved here and I didn't realize that it had only been open for two years.

And, um, but you're, in East Nashville. Yeah. But Parnassas is something, it was an enigma already when I moved here. And I didn't realize that it had only been open for two years.

And, but you're right. The way that you describe it, you're like, it's just, it's like a, it's like a store in the, doesn't even look like Nashville. And yet you walk in there and it kind of transforms. The beauty in it is that you walk from this kind of what looks like a bit run down, though it's right across the street from like the hoidiest hoidious moll in town like i've always said

that part of nashville it's like uh all the worst parts of l.A with none of the upside the traffic

the uh the self-congratulations the uh the fancy cars and but no beach no great museums

yeah i was kind of worried about uh fancy cars, but no beach, no great museums.

Yeah, I was kind of worried about writing that introduction because I wanted in all the chapters to give a good sense of atmosphere and what these spaces were like.

And I had seen pictures of Parnassas and, of course, knew the history behind it and Ann Patchett's story which sounded quite you know heroic and was definitely striking a triumphant

tone but then I drove there and was like this is where the charming bookstore is and you know

I studied urban history in grad school and this was like i

think i write in the book it was a placeless place and this this had all the markers of just bad

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