Ann Patchett

When Bel Canto came out, I heard people raving about it, and then I heard something that turned me off--I forget what, maybe that it was essentially a romance, a genre that does not interest me.

Now I am reading Best American Short Stories of 2006, of which she was the guest editor, and I am finding that I dislike the selection nearly as much as I liked the preceding year's edition, final selections of which were made by Michael Chabon, a writer whom I really do admire. Whereas story after story of the 2005 collection was a knockout (in my opinion), I find myself thinking about many of the 2006 choices, "How did that get in there?" Of course what this is about is a difference in tastes ("De gustibus non disputandum est," my father always said to me), but I am curious about how I might react to Patchett's own work.

Before I venture there, I am interested in some views of Patchett by the readers on this board.

Thank you.

CeeBee

1130 post s
28-Jul-2007
1:04 PM

Apparently you aren't the only one who has been unhappy with her writing. From Wikipedia: "For nine years, Patchett worked at Seventeen magazine. She mostly wrote non-fiction, and the magazine would publish only one of every five articles she wrote. She said that the magazine was cruel and eventually she stopped taking criticism personally. She ended her relationship with the magazine after getting into a fight with an editor and exclaiming 'I’ll never darken your door again!'"

I've successfully avoided her, but will check out either the 2006 short story anthology or one of her fiction books, probably Bel Canto.

I will report back within a month. Maybe sooner.

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