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Arts

Broken Family Needs To Have A 'Man At The Helm'

1:08pm March 08, 2015

In Nina Stibbe's new novel, Man at the Helm, Lizzie, 9, wants to find a man for her newly divorced mother. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Stibbe about the freedom of writing in a child's voice.

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30 Seconds That Echo Through History In 'Epitaph'

1:58pm March 07, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Forget whatever you thought you knew about the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Mary Doria Russell's new novel is an epic investigation into all the things that made the bloodshed inevitable.

A German U-boat sank the luxury ocean liner Lusitania, seen here in 1907, on May 7, 1915.

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The Lusitania Mystery: Why British Codebreakers Didn't Try To Save It

10:29am March 07, 2015

by NPR Staff

The ocean liner's sinking by a German U-boat led to the U.S. entering World War I. Erik Larson, author of Dead Wake, says British intelligence knew the ship was in danger and didn't tell anyone.

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'Bowling Alone' Author Tackles The American Dream

10:29am March 07, 2015

American political scientist Robert Putnam says we've lost sight of America as the land of opportunity. NPR's Scott Simon talks with him about his new book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis.

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Books

NPR Bestsellers: Week Of March 5, 2015

6:03pm March 06, 2015

The lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Fiction, Week Of March 5, 2015

6:03pm March 06, 2015

Mightier Than the Sword, the fourth book of Jeffrey Archer's Clifton Chronicles, debuts at No. 10.

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NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of March 5, 2015

6:03pm March 06, 2015

In Girl in a Band, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon looks back on her marriage and career in music. It debuts at No. 5.

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NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Fiction, Week Of March 5, 2015

6:03pm March 06, 2015

Cynthia Bond's Ruby centers on an East Texas man and the beautiful, traumatized woman he loves. It appears at No. 12.

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NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Nonfiction, Week Of March 5, 2015

6:03pm March 06, 2015

Chelsea Handler writes about her life, her loves and the state of the world in Uganda Be Kidding Me. It appears at No. 10.

It took just 18 minutes for the Lusitania to sink after it was hit by a German torpedo.

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Arts

Exclusive First Read: Erik Larson's 'Dead Wake'

2:30pm March 06, 2015

by NPR Staff

The Devil in the White City author Erik Larson turns his attention to the sinking of the liner Lusitania almost 100 years ago — a turning point that helped bring the United States into World War I.