Review Darkness and Light in 'The Secret Garden' February 20, 2008 • Sloane Crosley loves winter, which may explain her particular affection for the mysterious, hidden garden in Frances Hodgson Burnett's dark children's classic. Darkness and Light in 'The Secret Garden' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/19204506/19210435" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review 'Brooklyn' Renders an Imperfect World, Perfectly February 18, 2008 • As a girl, Peggy Orenstein may have spent her summers in Wisconsin, but her heart was often farther east. She recounts her love for Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and its hard, touching lessons about the difference between what is right and what is true. 'Brooklyn' Renders an Imperfect World, Perfectly Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/18875749/19148413" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
'Brooklyn' Renders an Imperfect World, Perfectly Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/18875749/19148413" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Review Michael Chabon: Charmed by a Dashing Brigadier January 30, 2008 • In between gleefully killing off Sherlock Holmes and somewhat reluctantly reviving him, Arthur Conan Doyle created another great fictional character, one who easily rivals Holmes if not for intelligence, then for heroism, bravery and dash. Michael Chabon: Charmed by a Dashing Brigadier Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/18521656/18549084" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Michael Chabon: Charmed by a Dashing Brigadier Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/18521656/18549084" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
An African Education in 'No Sweetness Here' January 18, 2008 • When Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie came to the U.S. for college, she found her roommates didn't know much about Africa. So she gave them a collection of beautiful, complex Ghanaian stories called No Sweetness Here. An African Education in 'No Sweetness Here' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/18142470/18228238" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review In Dark Winter, Chekhov Brings Comfort and Joy January 3, 2008 • Growing up in central New York, writer Diana Abu-Jaber spent many snowstorms curled up indoors with a book. She says Anton Chekhov's short stories reassured her that warmth can be found even in the coldest, darkest places. In Dark Winter, Chekhov Brings Comfort and Joy Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17614112/17824956" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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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
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
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
'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
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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