Books

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Arts

The Considered Bite: Low-Carb Diets And Our Relationship With Food

8:39pm September 05, 2014

According to a new study, cutting back on carbs can lead to weight loss. Dana Goodyear and Jason Sheehan explore how to eat enjoyably, by recommending Tartine Bread and The Gastronomical Me.

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Legal Dilemmas Become Human Drama In Ian McEwan's Latest

8:39pm September 05, 2014

by Meg Wolitzer

The Children Act by Ian McEwan is about a judge whose ruling decides the fate of a teenager in ways she can't imagine. It's written with McEwan's trademark gracefulness and control.

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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wants to sell all e-books for $9.99, while the publisher Hachette wants to vary the prices.

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In E-Book Price War, Amazon's Long-Term Strategy Requires Short-Term Risks

1:10pm September 05, 2014

by Laura Sydell

Amazon's position is that "instead of selling 100,000 copies at $14.95, you would sell 200,000 copies, let's say, at $8.99 or $9.99," says industry analyst Tim Bajarin.

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'Warburg' Struggles For Love And Justice In Wartime Rome

4:26pm September 03, 2014

by Alan Cheuse

James Carroll's experience as a Catholic priest informs his new Warburg in Rome, which follows an American tasked with rescuing European Jews in the aftermath of the Nazi occupation of Rome.

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SCOTUS On Cellphones And The Privacy Of Poetry

4:26pm September 03, 2014

by Craig Morgan Teicher

To put a literary spin on the Supreme Court's recent decision to limit warrantless cellphone searches, author Craig Morgan Teicher turns to A.R. Ammons' book of poetry, Tape for the Turn of the Year.

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'10:04': A Strange, Spectacular Novel Connecting Several Plotlines

2:27pm September 03, 2014

by Maureen Corrigan

Ben Lerner's new novel is about a writer who gets an advance for a second work of fiction, is diagnosed with an aortic heart valve problem and agrees to be the sperm donor for a close friend.

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A Sri Lankan beachgoer walks during sunset in Colombo on Jan. 30, 2014.

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'A Thousand Mirrors' Shows Two Views Of One Long, Brutal War

7:19pm August 31, 2014

by NPR Staff

In her new novel, Island of a Thousand Mirrors, Sri Lankan-American author Nayomi Munaweera shows the decades-long Sri Lankan civil war from the perspective of two girls who witness the horror.

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Singer Ian Curtis on stage in 1980 with Joy Division, whose song "Transmission" is among those explored in Greil Marcus' book The History of Rock 'N' Roll in Ten Songs.

The Other Rock History

3:54pm August 31, 2014

by NPR Staff

What makes an essential rock song? Music journalist Greil Marcus argues that it's not the stature of the performer, but the degree to which a song tells the story of rock 'n' roll itself.

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San Francisco on fire in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake.

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In An Earthquake, History Fuels One Writer's Anxiety

8:40pm August 29, 2014

by Gustavo Arellano

An earthquake in Napa Valley this week brought back old fears for author Gustavo Arellano. In his anxiety he's revisiting the book A Crack in the Edge of the World.

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John Waters Hitchhikes Across America, And Lives To Write About It

1:14pm August 29, 2014

The 68-year-old film director hitchhiked from Baltimore to San Francisco for his book Carsick. He says hitchhiking is "the worst beauty regimen ever." Originally broadcast June 10.

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