"Patchwork" is a collection of intimate, painful and/or hilarious accounts of the life and times of a woman born in Kansas City, Mo. in the depths of the Great Depression. After college, she escaped to Manhattan, where, though newly married, she fell deeply in love with an irresistible young sculptor, just becoming recognized by New York critics and art lovers. They lived for a year in Florence, Italy, then in rural New Jersey, where she became a...