Please be aware that some of the links on this historical archive page may have expired.
- Reviews of Bel Canto
- About the Author – Ann Patchett
- Interviews with Ann Patchett
- About the Book
- Excerpts from Bel Canto
- Reading Group Discussion Guides
- About the Term “Bel Canto”
- Other Cities Reading Bel Canto
- If You Liked Bel Canto, You Might Like …
- Opera Resources
- Information about Tupac Amaru
- What Other Communities Are Reading
Connect to the following on-line reviews of Bel Canto, by both professional critics and average readers.
- Deborah Adelaide, Jan 25 2003
- Amazon.com
- Asheville Citizen-Times, Rob Neufeld, Jul 5 2002 (no longer available)
- Atlanta Journal Constitution, Greg Changnon, 2001 (no longer available)
- Nick B’s blog (no longer available)
- BarnesandNoble.com
- K. Barnhart, 2003 (no longer available)
- The Book Barn reviews (The Book Barn appears to no longer be available)
- by Carla
- by The Rev
- BookBrowse.com – multiple critical and customer reviews
- Book-Club.co in New Zealand, Liz F. (no longer active)
- BookCrossing.com – over 150 copies of Bel Canto “released into the wild” and reviewed
- Bookhills.com – various customer reviews (no longer available)
- BookManBookWoman.com, Saralee Terry & Larry D. Woods (no longer available)
- BookReporter.com, Jana Siciliano
- BooksnByes, “Woodstock-RAM” (no longer available)
- CityBeat.com (Cincinnati), Richard Hunt, Aug 29 2002
- Colorado Springs Independent (no longer available)
- Crescent Blues, Carol Zapata-Whelan
- Jim Crescitelli (no longer available)
- Curledup.com, Amanda Cuda, 2003
- enotealone.com – various customer reviews (no longer available)
- The Guardian, Alex Clark, Jul 14 2001
- Kristin Hardy
- Mary Beth Hughes (no longer available)
- Victoria Jenkins (no longer available)
- GoMemphis.com, Fredric Koeppel, 2001 (no longer available)
- Madison Capital-Times, Ron McCrea, Feb 20 2003 (no longer available)
- Minnesota Public Radio, Leslie Crane, Sep 2001 (no longer available)
- Orange Prize Web site, Mark Reid, 2002
- Orange Prize Web site, Lisa Gee
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Betsy Kline, Jul 29 2001
- Priceowl.com – various customer reviews
- RateItAll.com – various customer reviews
- Salon, Laura Miller, Jun 22 2001 (no longer available)
- Anis Shivani
Print Reviews of Bel Canto available at the Lincoln City Libraries
These journals are all available in the basement Periodicals room at the Bennett Martin Public Library, 136 South 14th St. as of 2003 (as of 2022 most of these are no longer available)
- Booklist, June 1, 2001 – Review by Gilbert Taylor
- Book World, July 8, 2001 – Review by Joseph McLellan
- Book World, December 2, 2001 – “Nourishing the Spirit” by Robb Forman Dew
- Entertainment Weekly, June 8, 2001 – Review by Karen Valby
- Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2001
- Library Journal, July 2001 – Review by Barbara Hoffert
- New York Times Book Review, June 10, 2001 – “Captive Audience” by James Polk
- New York Times Late Edition, May 31, 2001 – “Uninvited Guests Wearing You Down? Listen to Opera” by Janet Maslin
- New Yorker, June 18, 2001
- Opera News, July 2001
- Publishers Weekly, April 16, 2001
- The Times Literary Supplement, July 27, 2001 – “A Diva Among the Hostages” by Margaret Stead
- Reviews of the Audio Version of the Book
- Booklist, April 15, 2002
- Kliatt, September, 2002
- Library Journal, November 1, 2001
About the Author – Ann Patchett
Learn more about award-winning author Ann Patchett at the following sites:
- Ann Patchett’s official Web site
- BookBrowse.com profile
- BookPage.com – Article by Patchett on the writing of Bel Canto
- BookSense.com – An article by Patchett on writing
- Concord Monitor – Author profile – Mar 23 2003 (no longer available)
- Contemporary Authors entry on Patchett (this database no longer available via the libraries)
- HarperCollins author page
- Ireadpages.com – author profile (no longer available)
- Minnesota Public Radio – author profile (no longer available)
- Orange Prize Web site – author profile (no longer available) (changed to The Women’s Prize for Fiction — Bel Canto entry linked here)
- The 4th Estate – author profile (no longer available)
Links to On-Line Interviews with Ann Patchett
Interested in reading some interviews with Ann Patchett? The following list of links will take you to several interviews she did, mostly about Bel Canto, but also covering her other novels as well.
- AudioFile Magazine Not about Bel Canto
- BookBrowse.com
- CBS News – The Early Show Transcript of a Jul 9 2002 television interview with Ann Patchett and her mother, Jeanne Ray, who is also an author
- Detroit Free Press, Marta Salig, May 1 2003 (no longer available online)
- HarperCollins.au – Interview on the publisher’s Australian site, 2002 (no longer available)
- columnist Pat Holt, Nov 15 2002 (no longer available)
- The Honolulu Advertiser, Mar 9 2003 (no longer available)
- NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Jul 2 2002 (no longer available)
- Pif Magazine, Candace Moonshower
- Powells.com, Dave Weich, Jun 27 2001 (no longer available)
- The Radcliffe Quarterly, Deborah Weisgal, Summer 2003 (no longer available)
- The Southern Register, Joan Wylie Hall, Winter 2002
- Audio Interviews with Ann Patchett
- Minnesota Public Radio, Jul 11 2001 RealAudio Format (no longer available)
- Nashville Public Radio – The Fine Print with Rebecca Bain, Jul 14 2001 RealAudio Format (no longer available)
- Nashville Public Radio – The Fine Print with Rebecca Bain, Apr 6 2002 RealAudio Format (no longer available)
- National Public Radio, May 13 2002 RealAudio Format (no longer available)
Want some general information about the book? You can find it at any of these sites:
- Publisher’s information
- Trade paperback
- E-book [four formats]
- Audio format
- Page on Bel Canto at author’s official site
- BookBrowse.com
- BookmanBookwoman column
- Minnesota Public Radio book blurb
- Publishers Weekly article (no longer available)
- Salon Magazine’s “Best of 2001” List
Want to read a sample from Bel Canto first? Visit one of the following sites:
- BookBrowse.com
- BookReporter.com
- Borders Bookstores
- HarperCollins – official publisher’s site
- Orange Prize Web site (no longer available) (changed to The Women’s Prize for Fiction but no excerpt available)
- The Radcliffe Quarterly, Summer 2001 (no longer available)
- USA Today, Jun 20 2001
Reading Group Discussion Guides
Leading a book group but need some good questions to start the discussions going? Try the following sites:
- Boise, Idaho
- Discussion Guidelines and Questions (no longer available)
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Book Discussion Kit [in .pdf format]
- BookBrowse.com
- Detroit Free Press reading club’s guide (no longer available)
- HarperCollins’ official Bel Canto reading guide (no longer available)
- The Lincoln Journal Star official Resource Guide (no longer available online)
- Reading Group Guides
The Italian term “Bel Canto” means “beautiful singing,” or more specifically “an elegant Italian vocal style characterized by florid melodic lines delivered by voices of great agility, smoothness and purity of tone.” For some more-detailed descriptions of the “Bel Canto” singing technique, please visit the following links:
- PageWise, Inc. definition (no longer available)
- About.com Italian language definition
- Renee Fleming page (no longer available)
Other Cities Reading Bel Canto
- The Boise Public Libraries in Boise, Idaho
- The Pollard Memorial Library in Lowell, Massachusetts
- The Madison Public Libraries in Madison, Wisconsin
- Book Clubs or Other Programs
- Columbus (Ohio) Metro Library Book Club (no longer available)
- Detroit Free Press Book Club
- Franklin County (Ohio) Public Libraries Book Club (no longer available)
- Honolulu Advertiser Book Club (no longer available)
- Article about a Michigan Book Club
- University of Iowa Center for Human Rights (no longer available)
If You Liked Bel Canto, You Might Like:
- Cleopatra’s Sister by Penelope Lively
- The Speed of Light by Elizabeth Rosner
- The Dancer Upstairs by Nicholas Shakespeare
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Blindness by Jose Saramago
- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
- Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
- An Equal Music by Vikram Seth
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
- Atonement by Ian McEwan
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- The works of Alice Munro
- The works of Pat Barker
- The works of Richard Powers
You might also like to read Ann Patchett’s other books:
- The Patron Saint of Liars [First published in September 1996]
- The Magician’s Assistant [First published in October 1997]
- Taft [First published in April 1999]
- The Aria Database
- DW3 Music Resources – Vocal Music (no longer available)
- Google Directory – Opera (no longer available)
- Opera America
- Opera Directory (no longer available)
- Opera Glass
- Opera List
- Opera People
- Operastuff.com
- Singer List
- Yahoo!Directory – Opera (no longer available)
- Renee Fleming homepage (friend of Ann Patchett and the inspiration for the character of Roxanne Coss in Bel Canto)
- Local Opera Links
- Lincoln Light Opera Company
- Minden Opera House
- Opera Omaha
- Nebraska Wesleyan University Opera Program (no longer available)
- Red Cloud Opera House
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln Voice & Opera Program
- Special thanks to the staff of the Polley Music Library for their list of Opera resources!
On-Line Resources About Tupac Amaru
Peruvian rebel group Tupac Amaru’s siege of the Japanese ambassador’s home in Lima in 1996 was the inspiration for the events portrayed in Bel Canto. Read more about the real-life events at these links.
- American University’s Inventory of Conflict and Environment case file on the incident
- CNN Coverage
- Federation of American Scientists data file
- Information page from the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (no longer available)
- U.S. Navy Postgraduate School profile of Tupac Amaru (no longer available)
- Wikipedia page about Tupac Amaru movement
- World History Archives
What Other Communities Are Reading
- One Book Reading Promotion Projects (Library of Congress Center for the Book)
Back to the main One Book – One Lincoln – 2003 page
One Book – One Lincoln – 2002: Plainsong by Kent Haruf