Book Reviews
Book Review: 'Writers Writing Dying'
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Friday, November 16, 2012
Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers
NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of November 15, 2012
November 16, 2012 Hallucinations, Oliver Sacks' investigation of mirages and altered states, debuts at No. 5.
Paperback Fiction Bestsellers
NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Fiction, Week Of November 15, 2012
November 16, 2012 Nora Roberts' small-town romance novel, The Perfect Hope, appears at No. 8.
Paperback Nonfiction Bestsellers
NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Nonfiction, Week Of November 15, 2012
November 16, 2012 The fifth issue of Lucky Peach focuses on the cuisine of Chinatown. It appears at No. 11.
Author Interviews
'When God Talks Back' To The Evangelical Community
November 16, 2012 Anthropologist T.M. Luhrmann studies the personal relationships evangelicals develop with God. In her book When God Talks Back, she explains how relationships with God are often cemented through the power of prayer. The book has just come out in paperback.
Author Interviews
Finding 'Life, Death And Hope' In A Mumbai Slum
November 16, 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Katherine Boo spent more than three years in Mumbai's Annawadi slum. In her book Behind the Beautiful Forevers, she profiles people living in extreme poverty — right in the shadow of luxury hotels. On Wednesday, the book won the National Book Award for nonfiction.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Book Reviews
Munro Weighs The Twists And Turns Of This 'Dear Life'
November 15, 2012 Alice Munro delivers a collection of stories that makes ordinary existence seem extraordinary, from the costly nature of first love to the literal cost of a small-town affair to the love between two strangers who are perfectly unsuited for each other.
Doris Kearns Goodwin On Lincoln And His 'Team Of Rivals'
November 15, 2012 In Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin explains how the 16th president brought into his cabinet three powerful men who politically opposed him. She spoke with Fresh Air's Terry Gross in 2005.
'Round House' And 'Beautiful Forevers' Win National Book Awards
November 15, 2012 The National Book Awards, announced Wednesday night, honored both longtime writers and new authors, from Louise Erdrich for her novel The Round House, to Katherine Boo for her debut nonfiction work, Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Two-Way
Louise Erdrich's 'The Round House' Wins National Book Award For Fiction
November 14, 2012 Erdrich's novel is laced with emotional nuance, and demonstrates in painful detail the legal and cultural obstacles to prosecuting rapists on a North Dakota reservation. Katherine Boo's acclaimed Behind the Beautiful Forevers – about life in a slum in Mumbai, India — won the nonfiction award.
Author Interviews
A Young Reporter Recounts Her Descent Into Madness
November 14, 2012 In her memoir, Susannah Cahalan writes about the month she descended into madness, experiencing seizures, paranoia, psychosis and catatonia. At first, her family was frightened, and her doctors, baffled. The eventual prognosis? A rare autoimmune disease that was attacking her brain.
Book Reviews
Ian McEwan's 'Sweet Tooth' Leaves A Sour Taste
November 14, 2012 The novelist has won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Award. His latest novel, however, earns the ire of critic Maureen Corrigan, who usually numbers among McEwan's fans but finds herself dismayed by this book's attitudes toward women.
Books News & Features
Hear The 2012 National Book Award Nominees
November 14, 2012 What are the best of the books? NPR Books looks at this year's National Book Award nominees for fiction and nonfiction. These 10 books — which tell the stories of a young drug smuggler, lovable philanderers, holograms in the Saudi desert and more — inspired, informed and entertained readers.
