Review Brutality and Redemption in 'Sacred Hunger' March 24, 2008 Sacred Hunger, a brutal portrait of human ruthlessness and redemption set on an 18th century slaving ship, inspired Ethan Canin to expand his ambitions as a writer. Brutality and Redemption in 'Sacred Hunger' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/87889471/88994438" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Brutality and Redemption in 'Sacred Hunger' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/87889471/88994438" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Review In 'Dracula,' a Metaphor for Faith and Rebirth March 21, 2008 Though his faith has waned over the years, author John Marks finds a metaphor for his own struggle with belief in the shadowy, invisible world of Bram Stoker's Dracula. In 'Dracula,' a Metaphor for Faith and Rebirth Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/88416912/88774924" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
In 'Dracula,' a Metaphor for Faith and Rebirth Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/88416912/88774924" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Review Finding Balance and Pleasure in 'The House of Mirth' March 11, 2008 As a young woman living in Paris in 1968, author Mireille Guiliano found friendship — and frustration — in Lily Bart, Edith Wharton's naïve, self-interested heroine who struggles to make decisions that are in her self-interest. Finding Balance and Pleasure in 'The House of Mirth' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/19351308/88122943" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Finding Balance and Pleasure in 'The House of Mirth' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/19351308/88122943" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
'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
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
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
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">
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">