Product Description

Somewhere in South America at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of Mr. Hosokawa, a powerful Japanese businessman. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening—until a band of terrorists breaks in, taking the entire party hostage.

But what begins as a life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different. Friendship, compassion, and the chance for great love lead the characters to forget the real danger that has been set in motion and cannot be stopped.

Ann Patchett has written a novel that is as lyrical and profound as it is unforgettable. Bel Canto is a virtuoso performance by one of our best and most important writers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #296134 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Released on: 2007-09-25
• Formats: Audiobook, Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 9
• Binding: Audio CD

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061429491
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author

Ann Patchett is the author of five novels, including Bel Canto (winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize), and the bestselling nonfiction book, Truth & Beauty. She has written for The Atlantic, Harper's, Gourmet, the New York Times Magazine, Vogue, and the Washington Post. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Customer Reviews

This is a great book!!!
I saw the review written and I wanted to say that this is one of my favorite books. Obviously not every book is for every person, maybe the CD is not as good?! (I read the book - I am just posting so that people don't miss such a good book based on one person's bad review.) So if you are thinking of buying this - read the reviews of the book. I really enjoyed it and so did many others. It has won awards and was #9 on Amazon's Best of 2001 (Top 25 Editors favorites)

outstanding audiobook!!!
I'm amazed this hasn't gotten better reviews; Bel Canto is one of the very best audiobooks I've listened to (and I've listened to a lot!). The reader does an astounding job with juggling half a dozen different languagues/accents and manages to give each character a unique voice so that it is always clear who is speaking and, even more importantly, what lies behind the character's words.

It may be that readers have felt disappointed because they are waiting for some sort of climactic action. This isn't that kind of book. It's true that the story begins with a large group of people becoming hostages and that they, at least, are focused for much of the novel on the question of whether or not they will ever escape the terrorists and regain their former lives, but that's not the author's focus. She makes it clear from early on that there's no real chance of a rescue and that the kidnappers and the kidnapped are all sort of stuck together. The story is about the lives of the people trapped in this bizarre limbo together. It's not "The Great Escape." It is, however, a wonderfully written (and read) story full of complex characters who develop in ways that they probably never would have had their lives progressed as they had been.

I cannot recommend this audio-book highly enough.

Captured my interest, but couldn't sustain it
As I listened to the first few CD's I was interested in the storyline & in learning more about the characters, but by the 6th CD the story was dragging. Gen Watanabe was a very interesting character & I enjoyed hearing about his interactions with Mr. Hosokawa, Ms. Coss & Carmen. For me, there was not enough happening in the storyline to keep my interest. I skipped two of the CDs and was still able to keep up with what was going on. I would recommend checking this out from the library and if you don't like it at least you haven't wasted any money.