Arts & Life

detail from cover of The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles

Books
Arts

Triumph Of The Bookworms: Two Novels To Cure Your Winter Blues

5:19pm February 05, 2014

by Maureen Corrigan

Alena, a reworking of Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca, takes place in the contemporary art world, while The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles is a "delicious French romp." Critic Maureen Corrigan says both novels are "exquisite vehicles of escape fiction."

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"The term 'vegan leather' makes me think that you peeled a carrot and took the skin and made a jacket out of it," says Tim Gunn, pictured above at the Under the Gunn finale fashion show.

Arts

Tim Gunn: On And Off The Runway, 'Life Is A Big Collaboration'

5:19pm February 05, 2014

"Make it work," the fashion guru tells designers on Project Runway. But life hasn't always "worked" for Gunn. He talks with Terry Gross about being bullied, being gay in the '60s and '70s, and how his mother thinks he should "dress more like Mitt Romney."

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Borgen's heroine is Birgitte Nyborg, superbly played by Sidse Babett Knudsen. Pilou Asbaek plays Don Draper-ish spin doctor Kasper Juul.

Arts

'Borgen' Is Denmark's 'West Wing' (But Even Better)

11:10am February 05, 2014

by John Powers

Critic John Powers says that Borgen, a Danish TV series about a woman who unexpectedly becomes Denmark's prime minister is "irresistibly bingeable." The third and final season has just been released on DVD.

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The title of Jennifer Senior's book — All Joy and No Fun — contrasts the strains of day-to-day parenting with the transcendent experience of having a child.

Books
Arts

Are We Having Fun Yet? New Book Explores The Paradox Of Parenting

4:09pm February 04, 2014

Kids can be magical and maddening. The title of Jennifer Senior's book — All Joy and No Fun — contrasts the strains of day-to-day parenting with the transcendent experience of raising a child.

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Truffles are among the many foods infused with THC – the chemical in marijuana that gives you a high — already for sale in Colorado.

Marijuana-Laced Treats Leave Colorado Jonesing For Food-Safety Rules

12:00pm February 04, 2014

by Luke Runyon

From sodas to truffles to butter, foods infused with THC — the chemical in marijuana that gives you a high — are already for sale in Colorado. But the federal government still considers pot illegal, so the state has to create from scratch its own system to regulate these foods.

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Linda Emond, Hoffman and Andrew Garfield take their opening night curtain call in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman at The Barrymore Theatre in New York City in 2012.

Arts

Philip Seymour Hoffman On Acting: An 'Exhausting' And 'Satisfying' Art

8:21pm February 03, 2014

We listen back to interviews with Hoffman from 1999 and 2008, when he told Fresh Air's Terry Gross that carrying the emotional life of a character could be "burdensome." He was found dead on Sunday at age 46.

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Philip Seymour Hoffman at a screening of The Master, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, during the 2012 Venice Film Festival.

Arts

On Philip Seymour Hoffman, And His Many Appearances

8:16pm February 03, 2014

by Bob Mondello

So many of the actor's roles dealt in appearances and self-doubt. Perhaps you don't get that good at communicating insecurity without knowing a little something about those things.

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Arts

Philip Seymour Hoffman: An 'Uncanny' Actor Of Stage And Screen

2:53pm February 03, 2014

by Elizabeth Blair

Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that Hoffman's award-winning performance in Capote wasn't so much an imitation as it was a channeling of "a man whose peculiarities mask great intelligence and deep wounds." Hoffman, 46, was found dead Sunday.

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Following Oil Boom In N. Dakota: A Cultural Blooming?

2:25pm February 03, 2014

by Dan Boyce

The oil fields of western North Dakota are bringing vast economic opportunity to a region that just 10 years ago was in decline. Yet, this vitality is rough around the edges and high art and culture are rare commodities. One organization is trying to change that by sending two professional writers into towns most impacted by the boom to conduct creative writing workshops.

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Silent-film icon Charlie Chaplin, in character as the Little Tramp, takes aim with his walking stick circa 1925.

Arts

A Century Ago Today, Chaplin Made His Film Debut — In A Dud

6:42pm February 02, 2014

by Bob Mondello

The silent-film comic was a flop in the 13-minute Making a Living. But only a few days later, he'd introduce his iconic Little Tramp character — and take the first step toward immortality.

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