archive

November 21, 2012 Vampires and other creatures of the night are modern pop-culture staples — not least within the Twilight franchise — but these gothic novels show why sometimes older is better. Author John Connolly explores three of his favorite Anglo-Irish gothic thrillers.

Summary

November 20, 2012 At 86, the legendary singer says he's at the top of his game and more passionate than ever about his art. In his memoir, Life Is a Gift: The Zen of Bennett, he reflects on more than six decades in the recording industry and a lifetime surrounded by family and friends.

Transcript

On Talk of the NationPlaylist

November 20, 2012 In a new memoir, Grace Coddington explains how she grew up on a remote island off the coast of Wales, started modeling as a young woman and ended up as creative director at Vogue magazine. Coddington speaks with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about her life in the fashion industry.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

November 20, 2012 Jami Attenberg's black comedy about the fallout of one woman's food addiction is a tough but affecting story about family members putting up with each other. Critic Maureen Corrigan says the novel's fragmented narration and jumpy timeline add to its emotional punch.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

November 20, 2012 The latest book by former New Yorker editor Robert Gottlieb, Great Expectations: The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens, reads more like scintillating gossip about the famous writer and his family than literary scholarship. NPR's Heller McAlpin is fine with that.

Summary

November 20, 2012 New York Times editor Sam Sifton has this important piece of Thanksgiving advice: Forget innovation. No ham, no swordfish, no beef tenderloin, just turkey and pie. His new book, Thanksgiving: How to Cook It Well, provides recipes for a simple, stress-free holiday meal.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 19, 2012 Novelist Richard Mason explores belle epoque pleasures, biographer Jean Baker champions sex educator Margaret Sanger, journalist A.J. Jacobs gets healthy, comedian Bill Cosby outsmarts his grandkids, and writer Geoff Dyer takes on filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky.

Summary

November 19, 2012 What did Jesus look like? In their new book, The Color of Christ, Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey explore how different groups have claimed Jesus as their own — and how depictions of Jesus have both inspired civil rights crusades, and been used to justify the violence of white supremacists.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

November 19, 2012 As Thanksgiving draws near, many of us are thinking about what we're thankful for. Novelist and memoirist Anne Lamott says she is filled with "wonder at the just sheer beauty of creation." She discusses her new book, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 18, 2012 Athanasius Kircher, a 17th-century Jesuit priest, was a renaissance man in name and deed. He strove to learn about almost everything. Unfortunately, many of his inventions and theories were pure nonsense. John Glassie writes about Kircher in his new book, A Man of Misconceptions.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 18, 2012 Insert $2 into the Biblio-Mat, and customers get a mystery, a biography, historical fiction — or a dud. The owner of a bookstore in Toronto came up with the machine as a way to clear his shelves of more ill-favored reads.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 18, 2012 The 79-year-old country singer has done a lot of living, and he's written about it more than once. His latest memoir takes a different tack, collecting his thoughts from long stretches on his tour bus.

Transcript

On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

November 18, 2012 Americans own an estimated 300 million guns, and the debate surrounding that ownership has long been a charged one. In Living With Guns, Craig Whitney explores areas where opposing sides might find common ground, and even compromise.

Transcript

On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist