'The Burning Girl': Girls Who Make Each Other Who They Are
Claire Messud's newest novel, The Burning Girl, focuses on the adolescent relationships that deeply impact our lives. She talks with NPR's Scott Simon about the book.
Books
Take A Walk On The Wilder Side Of Death With 'Reincarnation Blues'
Michael Poore's new novel is surprisingly goofy for a book about dying. It's the story fishing guide Milo, who's just been eaten by a shark. Oh, and he's in love with Death, who's also named Suzie.
The Brief, Tumultuous Reign Of An Erstwhile Best-Seller
For a while Thursday, Lani Sarem's debut, Handbook for Mortals, stood as the reigning best-seller in young adult literature. Within hours, it had been removed from the list entirely. What happened?
Science 'Gone Wrong' Can Teach Us
Pandora's Lab stresses that for science to work, it needs to base claims on data, studies need to be replicable, and scientists must be more attached to science than to their own ideas, says Alva Noë.
A Retired Marine And A Photojournalist Confront War's 'Invisible Injuries'
Marine Sgt. TJ Brennan suffered from memory loss after being injured by a grenade in Afghanistan in 2010. Finbarr O'Reilly captured the event on film. Now the two men have written a memoir.
'To E Or Not To E': USC And UCLA Quibble Over How To Spell Shakespear(e)
At the base of a new, towering statue of a Trojan queen, Southern Cal quoted a few choice verses from the Bard. But, UCLA students pointed out, the school misspelled his name ... or did it?
'The Red-Haired Woman' Is A Minor Work From A Major Author
Orhan Pamuk is almost synonymous with Turkish literature; he's won the Nobel Prize for his work. But his latest, about a well-digger and his apprentice, doesn't reach the heights of his earlier books.
Knausgaard Comes Up Short: In 'Autumn,' Less Isn't Always More
Karl Ove Knausgaard — famed for his epic memoir My Struggle — goes for short and sweet in Autumn, a meditative seasonal reflection. But while there are lovely moments, the book strays into banality.
Knausgaard's 'Autumn' Considers Everything From Toilet Bowls To Twilight
Karl Ove Knausgaard — known for his six-volume autobiographical series My Struggle — is now writing meditative, short texts, focused on a variety of topics, interspersed with letters to his daughter.