Bel Canto: Summary and book reviews of Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, plus links to an excerpt from Bel Canto and a biography of Ann Patchett.

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 international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening -- until a band of gun-wielding terrorists breaks in through the air-conditioning vents and takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different countries and continents become compatriots. Without the demands of the world to shape their days, life on the inside becomes more beautiful than anything they had ever known before. At once riveting and impassioned, the narrative becomes a moving exploration of how people communicate when music is the only common language. 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 engenders in the reader the very passion for art and the language of music that its characters discover. As a reader, you find yourself fervently wanting this captivity to continue forever, even though you know that real life waits on the other side of the garden wall. Bel Canto is a virtuoso performance by one of our best and most important writers. It is a novel to be cherished.

Media Reviews

Library Journal In this tale by the author of such critically praised works as The Magician's Assistant, a terrorist takeover at an embassy party throws together an American diva and a Japanese CEO who is one of her biggest fans.   Publishers Weekly This fluid and assured narrative, inspired by a real incident, demonstrates her growing maturity and mastery of form as she artfully integrates a musical theme within a dramatic story.   Kirkus Reviews Combining an unerring instinct for telling detail with the broader brushstrokes you need to tackle issues of culture and politics, Patchett creates a remarkably compelling chronicle of a multinational group of the rich and powerful held hostage for months.... Even more compelling are the protective, almost familial affections that arise, the small acts of kindness in what is, inevitably, a tragedy. Brilliant. Madison Smartt Bell Bel Canto has all the qualities one has come to expect from a classic Ann Patchett novel grace, beauty, elegance, and magic.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Katelyn D.
Boring
I thought this book was very boring. Patchett wrote stuff that was irrelevant in the book and it just wasted my time. I had to read this book for school, and I did not recomend it to anyone. I don't think that I will read another book by her.

Rated of 5 by Sheila Balls
Bel Canto
Not until the last page does a character think about marrying for love and he casts this age old saying into a new light. This book causes us to examine love in its different kinds between characters caught in a strange existence. For some, there...   Read More

Rated of 5 by kiki
no action!
This book was slow moving, not enough going on...the character development was great but not for the entire book

Rated of 5 by Benr
Why?
This book succeeds very well as a modern fable. There are wonderful, if broadly drawn, characters - almost caricatures. The message of wasted potential is powerful. There are characters to love, but none to hate. HOWEVER: What was up with the...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Fahd Imam, period 4 AP english
Book Review: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
In Bel Canto, Patchett seamlessly combines action, romance and a high level of maturity to produce an amazing fictional novel that truly deserves winning the PEN/Faulkner award and Orange Prize for Fiction. It is Patchett’s best work and one that...   Read More

Rated of 5 by cathy
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I'm studying this novel for school and I think its fantastic! And although some people in my class hate this book, it is so easy to talk about as a class, as its has so many different levels. I love the way the whole book (format, story line and...   Read More

...24 More Reader Reviews

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