Talking to Ann Patchett is less like an interview, more like catching up with an old friend. She’s one of those writers who never seems to get a bad review, and deservedly so. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, she wrote three early novels which garnered prizes and critical acclaim (“The Magician’s Assistant,” “The Patron Saint of Liars” and “Taft”). Her fourth, “Bel Canto,” was an enormous hit (1 million copies sold, translated into 30 languages), and the string of successes continued with “State of Wonder.”

She opened Parnassus Books in Nashville a year ago and has seen it become a considerable success.

Patchett will be the speaker at the annual Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition luncheon at the Kravis Center on Friday. For reservations call 561-921-4663.

Our conversation:

How’s the bookstore doing?

Fantastic. It’s a total joy, and that is the truth. And that has everything to do with the fact that I don’t work there. I am the benevolent overlord; I come in and do my star turn and walk out again.

Actually, I really do play an important role in the store: I do all the publicity. If anybody wants an interview, I do it. And we do get a lot of publicity. And the other thing is I can get any writer to come to the bookstore. And that’s where the money is - big events. We are so fortunate that I have a big Rolodex or I know your publicist or your editor or your sister and I can get people to come.

A friend of mine thinks that independent bookstores are coming back as Barnes & Noble falters because of Amazon.

I like to think I originated that theory, but I will share it with your friend. The superstores killed the bookstore, Amazon killed the superstores and now people are saying they want the things that a bookstore can offer.

The upsurge of the independent bookstore is just starting, but I don’t know how anybody opens a small business. I had no knowledge of the inner workings of a small business. I had to guarantee the rent for five years; I had to send a personal financial statement to Random House and Viking - who publish me - in order for them to send me books. If you want to start a small business, get yourself a novelist backer.

Do you get involved with the stock, what’s displayed, what isn’t?

This is a shrine to books that I love. “Act One” by Moss Hart is right in the front of the store. I am not about selling new hardbacks, I am about selling books that I read and love. We are thoughtfully curated. I have input. The only thing I don’t want to see are inflammatory political books in the front of the store.

What’s the runt of your litter - the book that has a special place even if the critics or public didn’t pay much attention?

Unquestionably, “Taft.” It never sold outside of my immediate family. That book is dedicated to two cousins, and one of them didn’t read it. Nobody read it. If it weren’t for the fact that my other books sold, it would be out of print. I think it didn’t sell because the title was so bad. But I like all my books; I would never publish a book I didn’t feel was my best work.

When we talked before, you raved about the experience of being taught by Grace Paley and Allen Gurganus, but dismissed the people at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Was that because they were more interested in their own writing than in their students?

No. It’s just like being at a poker game and drawing a good hand. There’s nothing wrong with Iowa. I just drew bad hands. I think it’s a great program, with plenty of terrific people. I could have drawn bad hands at Sarah Lawrence, and not had that experience. It’s chemistry. Who are the other students? What’s the mood of the teacher? And also, where are you? When I was younger, I was more capable of being taught and molded and listening. People are always asking what influenced you, and they’re not the best books I’ve ever read, they’re the books I read when I was young. I didn’t read Henry James until I was in my 40s.

And?

I love him. There are so many things we love when we’re young that are unpalatable as we get older. You know Karl Marlantis? He and my husband went to school together. He was here recently and had just seen “Easy Rider” for the first time in 40 years. And I said, ‘Oh, God, it’s horrible,’ and he said, ‘I had no idea. It’s the worst movie I’ve ever seen, and at the time I thought it was genius.’ If you’ve met anybody over the age of 19 who likes Ayn Rand, step slowly away from them.

So how do you explain the Neocons?

I can’t explain the Neocons. I think they haven’t reread her. She makes perfect sense when you’re 14, but never afterwards. Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is really bad too. I wrote an introduction for it when Gore Vidal dropped out. Sat down to read it and thought it was appalling. The gist of the introduction was, ‘Kids read this now, because you won’t want to read it again later.’ And at the risk of being lynched, I don’t think “To Kill a Mockingbird” is really very good; I think the writing is stiff.

Did you have a plan B - if you were still writing short stories for magazines and getting paid in copies, what would you be doing?

Hmmm. I wrote an essay about this. There were only two things I was qualified to do: Food service, or teaching. So would I rather be a waitress or teach freshman comp? I think I’d rather be a waitress.

No, I did not have a plan B. My father told me to be a dental hygienist. Seriously. He gave completely random advice, but delivered it very sternly.

There’s lots of handwringing about the future of books that I’m not at all sure is justified. What’s your feeling?

I think we’ll be just fine. I think a lot of things in publishing happen on slow news days. I really pin a lot of it on the media. The reason I say that is how much media attention I got from opening a bookstore. There had been stories saying ‘Ebooks forever, nobody reads,’ and it became a trumped-up story. I open up a bookstore and it’s ‘Books are alive, everybody’s fine.’ I was named as one of Time’s 100 influential people for opening a bookstore. People don’t have anything else to talk about.

Yeah, more people will read digitally, but there will be plenty of people who want paper too. If I’ve got a message to take to the streets, it’s that we as consumers control the marketplace. The marketplace does not control us. If you care about books and bookstores, read books and support bookstores. You can’t go into a bookstore, talk to smart staff, go home and order off Amazon. Civilized people don’t do that. If you want a bookstore and want your kids to go to story hour, you have to go and buy your books there. Wal-Mart did not kill small town America. We did; we decided we wanted to spend less on Q-tips. And we can undo that.