Ann Patchett Would Like to Clarify That She is Not Married to Her Dog

By Anna Merlan | November 3, 2014 | 10:50pm

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Despite a recent, glorious typo in the New York Times‘ Sunday Book Review suggesting otherwise, novelist Ann Patchett would like everyone to know that she is not married to, or in any kind of non-platonic relationship with, her dog Sparky. (She is also not wedded to Rose, her other pup, seen in the photo above.) From a letter she sent to the Times, posted online October 30:

Puppy Love

To the Editor:

I was grateful to see my book “This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage” mentioned in Paperback Row (Oct. 19). When highlighting a few of the essays in the collection, the review mentions topics ranging from “her stabilizing second marriage to her beloved dog” without benefit of comma, thus giving the impression that Sparky and I are hitched. While my love for my dog is deep, he married a dog named Maggie at Parnassus Books last summer as part of a successful fund-raiser for the Nashville Humane Association. I am married to Karl VanDevender. We are all very happy in our respective unions.

ANN PATCHETT

NASHVILLE

When Rick Santorum warned us all about “man on dog” relationships, surely he didn’t anticipate they’d be so goddamn cute.