About the Author

Ann Patchett is the author of novels, most recently the #1 New York Times bestselling Tom Lake, works of nonfiction, and children's books. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the PEN/Faulkner, the Women's Prize in the UK, and the Book Sense Book of the Year. Her novel The Dutch House was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages, and Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. President Biden awarded her the National Humanities Medal in recognition of her contributions to American culture. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the owner of Parnassus Books.

Hope Davis' films include The Weather Man, Proof, Dumas, American Splendor (Golden Globe Nomination), The Secret Lives of Dentists (2003 Best Actress, New York Film Critics), About Schmidt, Hearts of Atlantis, Mumford, Arlington Road, Next Stop Wonderland, and Daytrippers. Her stage credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Spinning Into Butter, Ivanov, and Two Shakespearean Actors.

Reviews

Dr. Marina Singh reluctantly leaves her native Minnesota for a fact-finding mission to an unknown destination along the Amazon River. She arrives in Manaus and after the loss of her suitcase, the trip up the river, and finally the loss of her Western clothing to native Lakashis, she is reborn in the tropical womb of the rainforest. The practical scientific background of Marina and her colleagues is reinforced by Hope Davis's precise diction. She uses inflections and accents befitting the range of characters Marina meets in Brazil-Midwesterners, New Englanders, Brazilians, Africans, Australians-which helps build the remote Amazon research community within the listener's imagination. We are drawn into a fascinating and frightening world as -Davis and Patchett take you from one civilization to another. Recommended for all audio devotees. ["Patchett exhibits an extraordinary ability to bring the horrors and the wonders of the Amazon jungle to life...powerful and captivating," read the starred review of the New York Times best-selling HarperCollins hc, LJ 4/1/11.-Ed.]-Juleigh Muirhead Clark, Colonial Williamsburg Fdn. Lib., VA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.