Books

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Arts

Meet Ben's Sister Jane, History's Forgotten Franklin

2:32pm October 10, 2013

by Maureen Corrigan

For centuries, the memory of Jane Franklin has languished in brother Benjamin's shadow. While Ben is on currency and splashed across textbooks, Jane's life of curiosity and hardship has been forgotten. In Book of Ages, historian Jill Lepore draws a portrait of one of the American Revolution's "little women."

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Canadian Alice Munro Wins Nobel's Literature Prize

7:39am October 10, 2013

Alice Munro, "master of the contemporary short story," has won the Nobel Prize in Literature," the Royal Swedish Academy announced Thursday morning. In 2009, she won the Man Booker International Prize for her lifetime work.

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Books

A Coming Of Age Story For The (Ice) Ages

5:37pm October 09, 2013

by Alan Cheuse

The novel Shaman, by science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson is a coming of age novel set in the ice age. Reviewer Alan Cheuse says it is the latest to take up the question of what it was like to live 30,000 years ago on the cusp of change from Neanderthal to Cro-Magnon dominance of the human world.

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Elizabeth Smart Says Kidnapper Was A 'Master At Manipulation'

4:08pm October 08, 2013

by NPR Staff

Smart, who was held captive for nine months at age 14, describes the 2002 ordeal in a new memoir called My Story. She's now an advocate for children's safety education and says "the best punishment" she can give her abusers is to move on with her life and be happy.

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Out Of Lahiri's Muddy 'Lowland,' An Ambitious Story Soars

3:53pm October 07, 2013

by Maureen Corrigan

Jhumpa Lahiri's new novel, The Lowland, is on the long list for the National Book Award and the shortlist for the Man Booker. Critic Maureen Corrigan says Lahiri should start making room in her trophy cabinet; The Lowland is a beautiful tale of a family transformed by political violence.

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In 'Egghead,' A New Shel: Burnham Takes On Silverstein

12:16pm October 07, 2013

by NPR Staff

Bo Burnham got his start in comedy on the Internet rather than in clubs. He found fame on YouTube and parlayed millions of views into a thriving career. Now, he's turned to the printed page with Egghead: Or, You Can't Survive on Ideas Alone, a collection of comedic poetry modeled on Shel Silverstein.

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40 Years Ago, 'Fear Of Flying' Showed Women Like Sex, Too

9:31am October 07, 2013

by NPR Staff

Back in 1973, Erica Jong was tired of the silent, seething housewife, so she introduced a new kind of female protagonist: one who loved sex and wasn't ashamed to admit it. Jong joins NPR's Susan Stamberg to talk about hook-ups, Fifty Shades of Gray, and of course, the "zipless f - - - ."

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How Reddit Emerged From A Rejected (And Very Different) Idea

6:36pm October 05, 2013

by NPR Staff

Alexis Ohanian is co-founder of the popular social news site Reddit. His new book, Without Their Permission, tells the story of the site, from startup to Internet giant.

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Thank You for Your Service, by Brian Finkel

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'Thank You For Your Service' Follows America's Soldiers Home

2:58pm October 03, 2013

by NPR Staff

Journalist David Finkel embedded with the 2-16 Infantry Battalion during the troop surge in Iraq, then recorded their stories in his first book, The Good Soldiers. Now, his new book chronicles the struggles of those who made it home, from their recurring nightmares and suicidal thoughts to the challenges of getting help.

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American-born British poet and playwright T.S. Eliot received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.

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On Eliot's 125th, His 'Waste Land' Hasn't Lost Its Glamour

9:55am October 03, 2013

by NPR Staff

This year marks the 125th birthday of Nobel Prize-winning poet T.S. Eliot. To celebrate, a re-issue of the first edition of his seminal poem has just been published, with an introduction by New Yorker poetry editor Paul Muldoon. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Muldoon about the poem's lasting influence.

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