A Brutal British Mystery Novel for Boxing Day December 26, 2007 • Writer Jonathan Hayes was escaping a painfully dull Boxing Day dinner when he was introduced to Dorothy Sayers' The Nine Tailors for the first time. Hayes says Sayers helped nudge the English mystery novel out of the drawing room and into the real world. A Brutal British Mystery Novel for Boxing Day Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17618908/17625035" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Writer Home for the Holidays on 'Animal Farm' December 19, 2007 • Though not exactly a holiday story, George Orwell's Animal Farm is the book that writer David Maine revisits each year. Maine remembers reading the parable for the first time as a teen and thinking: "Whoa, this isn't just talking animals."
Review 'Mr. Ives' Christmas' a Holiday Hymn to New York December 14, 2007 • Correspondent Ray Suarez recommends Mr. Ives' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos — it honors a beautiful and lost New York, Christmas, and the challenge of a living faith and the redeeming power of love. 'Mr. Ives' Christmas' a Holiday Hymn to New York Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17174347/17265751" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review Small-Town 'Winesburg' Reminds Writer of Home December 5, 2007 • Writer Tom Perrotta recommends Sherwood Anderson's classic Winesburg, Ohio — a collection of snapshots of lonely souls and thwarted dreamers who populate a seemingly quaint Midwestern town. Small-Town 'Winesburg' Reminds Writer of Home Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/16945830/16939365" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review 'A Christmas Memory' of Traditions and Fruitcake December 5, 2007 • Each year at holiday time, Josh Kilmer-Purcell and his family exclaimed, "Oh, my! It's fruitcake weather, Buddy!" But it wasn't until he was an adult that he understood the true meaning of Truman Capote's simple line.
Review Guy de Maupassant, a Jeweler of Language November 16, 2007 • Author Mirta Ojito returned last summer to the stories that enthralled her in her adolescence, wondering if their magic would hold. Her verdict: The poetry of life pulses through every single one. Guy de Maupassant, a Jeweler of Language Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/15190446/16368903" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review 'Cloud Atlas' a Series of Virtuosic, Soaring Stories November 6, 2007 • David Mitchell's nested box of stories isn't just cleverness, says writer Maile Meloy. The novel has a heart, a fierce intelligence and a single, recurring soul. Hear Maile Meloy Read Her Essay Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/14250743/16053995" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Review In 'Quarantine,' a Great Story Mercilessly Retold October 26, 2007 • Bret Anthony Johnston says that although he's not particularly religious, Jim Crace's version of the Christ-in-the-desert tale "always leaves me in a state of rapture, as if I'd received a revelation of my own." In 'Quarantine,' a Great Story Mercilessly Retold Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/13982672/15669808" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review 'Leaves of Grass' Still Growing, Inspiring October 8, 2007 • Author Diane Ackerman writes that Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass is an epic journey of self-discovery. He began with a microscopic eye focused on a leaf of grass, and then stretched his mental eye out to the beauty of the farthest nebulae. 'Leaves of Grass' Still Growing, Inspiring Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/14965285/15099980" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review The Caterpillar with an Appetite for Philosophy September 26, 2007 • A caterpillar, guided by the wisdom of Aristotle, William Blake and Ludwig Wittgenstein, speaks volumes about the human condition, writes author Marina Lewycka. The Caterpillar with an Appetite for Philosophy Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/14696413/14808963" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review 'The Virginian' Teaches the Merit of a Man September 17, 2007 • When Benjamin Percy was a boy, his father handed him a weather-beaten copy of Owen Wister's 1902 Western epic. "Reading this will make a man out of you," he said. 'The Virginian' Teaches the Merit of a Man Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/14478995/14478959" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review An Author's Companion in Rage, Exile and Return September 4, 2007 • When writer Eboo Patel felt rejected by America, he took comfort in James Baldwin's essays. He was surprised to find that Baldwin's writing helped him accept the country in a different light. An Author's Companion in Rage, Exile and Return Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/14079432/14166887" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review Returning to Long Island and 'That Night' August 29, 2007 • When people ask me, "What was it like to grow up on Long Island?" I give them a copy of Alice McDermott's novel That Night. "Read this," I say. Returning to Long Island and 'That Night' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/13929783/14033073" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Fiercely Unlovely 'Loser' Doesn't Need to Please August 21, 2007 • Thomas Bernhard's novel is willfully oppressive and agonizing to read, hilarious and awful by turns, says author Claire Messud. An unflinching, ranting monologue, it couldn't care less about the reader — but it contains bitter truths. Fiercely Unlovely 'Loser' Doesn't Need to Please Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/12871742/13877240" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review 'Body Snatchers' Argues Resistance Isn't Futile August 14, 2007 • Thriller writer James Rollins says Jack Finney's McCarthy-era pulp classic — unlike the movies based on it — makes clear that one determined fighter can matter, even when the odds are overwhelming. 'Body Snatchers' Argues Resistance Isn't Futile Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/12746850/12786160" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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