Ann Patchett, the award winning fiction writer, appeared on an unlikely show over the weekend.  "Wall Street Journal Report" is known more for the host Maria Bartiromo's interviews with business executives and entrepreneurs.  But Bartiromo interviewed Patchett on her popular Sunday morning show this past weekend not necessarily for her literary prowess but because of her decision to open an independent bookstore in Nashville where she lives.  

When the last two bookstores closed in her town, Patchett was disappointed. Yet she took that as her queue to do something about it and partnered with a friend to start Parnassus bookstore in November 2011.  Of her decision to open the bookstore, Patchett has said that it was not a passion or a dream but a necessity and something she felt compelled to do for her fellow Nashville residents. 

Patchett who has written several works of fiction including Bel Canto, which won the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award, told Baritomo that she is hopeful about the fate of independent bookstores. She also said that she invested $300,000 of her own money but because of her partner's business acumen has only spent one-third of the money.  Since opening the bookstore, Patchett has been thrust into the role of independent bookstore advocate--a role she says doesn't come naturally  but one she is happy to play because of her love for books and small bookstores. 

"Parnassus" is 2,500 square feet and as she explained in an NPR interview, it gets its name from a "mountain in Greece where literature and music and poetry were born. We are the Athens of the South here in Nashville - we have a full-size replica of the Parthenon. And so we wanted to be part of that great tradition of our city."