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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Review A Summer Thriller, Smartly Turned Out in 'White' August 7, 2007 • If you need to accomplish anything major in the near future, stay away from The Woman in White. This engaging crime novel will have you shunning friends and forgetting to reapply sunscreen. A Summer Thriller, Smartly Turned Out in 'White' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/12530673/12558028" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review A Tenuous Transition to Paradise Lost July 31, 2007 • Giorgio Bassani's tragic The Garden of the Finzi-Continis chronicles a wealthy Jewish family's struggle to keep change — and destruction — at bay in Mussolini's Italy. A Tenuous Transition to Paradise Lost Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/12349776/12386403" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review A Summer in Suspension, Waiting for Life's Start July 23, 2007 • Augusten Burroughs says The Member of the Wedding captures the magic of summer: "The pages themselves nearly sweat, and there is humidity between the lines." A Summer in Suspension, Waiting for Life's Start Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/12166764/12174618" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review An Emotional Journey Down 'Revolutionary Road' July 17, 2007 • Writer Anthony Giardina says Richard Yates' novel — about an ordinary suburban couple and their vague yearning for something more — is "an essential testament about mid-20th century America." An Emotional Journey Down 'Revolutionary Road' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/11913039/12039619" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review A Writer's 'Mysterious Secret': Style Plus Empathy July 12, 2007 • In his sterling short-story collection, Jack Pendarvis writes about life's losers but never condescends to them, no matter how stunted or strange they are. The result is funny and sad: You laugh at what's on the page; you're haunted by what's not.
Review Writer Finds a Fated Friend in 'Jesus' Son' July 5, 2007 • If you're only going to read one book this year about getting stabbed in the eye and crushing tiny, helpless bunnies, then run right out and get Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son. Writer Finds a Fated Friend in 'Jesus' Son' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/11531765/11759981" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review 'Consider the Oyster' — a Peerless Summer Delicacy June 25, 2007 • Author Kate Christensen says the book "packs a wallop in a small amount of space, satisfies without satiating, and goes down easily, pithy and nutritious and sweetly briny." 'Consider the Oyster' — a Peerless Summer Delicacy Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/11267376/11362282" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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Review Seizing Power from 'The Woman Warrior' June 18, 2007 • Author Diana Abu-Jaber felt empowered by The Woman Warrior: "Hong Kingston's voice edges between poetry and barely controlled rage throughout this work. I found it to be at once compelling, alien and true." Seizing Power from 'The Woman Warrior' Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/11163242/11164190" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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'Moby-Dick': Into the Wonder-World, Audaciously June 13, 2007 • British literary historian Rebecca Stott admires Moby-Dick, "a cauldron into which Melville, demented alchemist, tipped everything that fascinated him: whale lore ... meditations on love, friendship, dreams, demonic possession," and much more. 'Moby-Dick': Into the Wonder-World, Audaciously Listen Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/10985606/11026680" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
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