Ann Patchett Talks Benefits of Friendship with Renée Fleming

Party pals: Fleming (l) & Patchett (r)

"Patchett divides her career into two distinct phases: before and after Bel Canto. Before her fourth novel became a paperback bestseller, Patchett struggled. Her second novel Taft could not live up to the passionately personal promise of her debut, and the fact that it is so little read still rankles. She calls it her 'neglected child . . . it's as if it smells or it's sticky or something.' But Bel Canto, a stylish and theatrical kidnapping fantasy set in an unnamed South American capital, was a game-changer. 'I sort of jumped into a different kind of bracket," she says bluntly. 'I've met so many interesting people because of it. I've become very close friends with Renée Fleming [the American soprano] because of that book, it's like I'm invited to better parties now, ha ha.'" [Source]