Review A Slow, Glorious Trip Down the Mississippi May 23, 2008 • Tony Horwitz revels in the meandering adventures and wry observations of Old Glory, Jonathan Raban's story of floating "like a piece of human driftwood" through the heart of America. A Slow, Glorious Trip Down the Mississippi Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90708472/90781873" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
A Slow, Glorious Trip Down the Mississippi Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90708472/90781873" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Review Belly Laughs — and Wampas — in 'Expertise' May 14, 2008 • Real out-loud laughter may be uncommon among adults, says Mary Roach, but she cracked up upon cracking open John Hodgman's The Areas of My Expertise. Even Hodgman's list of "Jokes That Have Never Produced Laughter" proved funny.
Review Taking Comfort in a 'Four-Story' Escape May 5, 2008 • Author Marisa de los Santos recalls the worries of her childhood, and the escape she found in The Four-Story Mistake, Elizabeth Enright's tale of four siblings living with their father and a housekeeper in a big, rambling house in the country.
Review The Disquieting Resonance of 'The Quiet American' April 21, 2008 • Can we learn from our past mistakes? Pico Iyer finds modern meaning in Graham Greene's novel about a naive American who arrives in a foreign place full of ideas about democracy, and how he can teach an ancient culture a better, "American" way of doing things. The Disquieting Resonance of 'The Quiet American' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89542461/89817500" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review History Made Real in 'April Morning' April 18, 2008 • On April 19, 1775, a shot rang out on Lexington Green and the Revolutionary War began. Historical novelist Sally Gunning remembers the first time she read April Morning, Howard Fast's fictional account of the day, and the lasting impression the book had on her.
Review Finding a Familiar Loneliness in 'The Yearling' April 10, 2008 • Lois Lowry was 8 years old when she first encountered the loneliness and desperate poverty of the Baxter family in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' book, The Yearling. Finding a Familiar Loneliness in 'The Yearling' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89255124/89541162" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Finding a Familiar Loneliness in 'The Yearling' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89255124/89541162" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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
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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
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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
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
