…which invariably arrives as she is just coming to critical point in a book half completed. These ideas appear coy and bright, bringing out the charm of a new flame, urging her to dump the tired out book she has been working on for oh however long. But Ann Patchett resists, finishes work in progress and lets this new idea languish for a bit, perhaps to see if it is really worthy. Such was the case with State of Wonder.

State of Wonder is not and never will be Bel Canto,  perhaps her watermark novel. But Ann Patchett is still Ann Patchett and reads a spell-binding, evocative tale from State of Wonder leaving the audience amazed at the real-life adventures Patchett encountered while in the Amazon doing research for this latest novel. After all, few among us know the stench of an attacking Anaconda or the sounds of a jungle river, less still where the machete is found on a river guide’s boat.
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