Ann Patchett Revisits Bel Canto

The Book Case

ABC News

Fiction, Arts, Books, Society & Culture

4.1 • 766 Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2024

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ann Patchett burst on the scene with Bel Canto twenty three years ago. Bel Canto was not her first novel, but many still consider it to be her best (although she disagrees). This week she releases an Annotated Edition of Bel Canto and in it she rereads and notes her triumphs and mistakes on every page. Seriously. A great novel, a great writer making insightful comments on her own writing (in her own handwriting)…if you love reading, writing or Ann Patchett, this is a HUGE treat. In this episode, the first installment of our conversation with Ann, we talk to her about the inspirations behind Bel Canto, and so much of what she thinks she could do better if she wrote it today. Listen and nerd out with us on the writing experience. Books mentioned in this week’s podcast: Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition by Ann Patchett The Dutch House by Ann Patchett These Precious Days by Ann Patchett The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett State of Wonder by Ann Patchett Commonwealth by Ann Patchett Run by Ann Patchett This is the Story of a Marriage by Ann Patchett Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett Tom Lake by Ann Patchett Taft by Ann Patchett Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:36.5	All right, it's Thursday. It's almost the end of your week if you're listening on the day that we release.
0:41.6	And we are the bookcase. And I am part of the Kate and Charlie Gibson.
0:45.1	And I'm the Charlie part. And we welcome you back. I want to tell you right up front that we're going to break some new ground here on the bookcase for the next two weeks.
0:53.7	The next two shows, we're going to feature a new book that isn't a new book at all.
0:59.2	And I should explain and Kate will explain, but this podcast has sort of become a series of
1:04.9	lessons on how to write a novel.
1:06.8	And we're going to feature a new edition of Anne Patchett's 24-year-old novel, Belcanto,
1:12.6	which was immensely popular at the time it was released.
1:15.7	But there's a new edition of Belcanto.
1:17.8	And she does something in this edition that's wonderfully instructive, I think, for readers like Kate and me,
1:24.7	but also for writers.
	...

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