Books

Sports
Books

Parcells' Book Details Highs And Lows Of His NFL Coaching Career

8:37am January 30, 2015

Bill Parcells recently recounted his life and career in a memoir, Parcells: A Football Life. David Greene sits down with Parcells to talk about his legacy, and the challenges the league faces today.

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Arts

In 'Outline,' A Series Of Conversations Are Autobiographies In Miniature

2:21pm January 29, 2015

by Maureen Corrigan

Rachel Cusk's novel centers on a writer and mother recovering from divorce who teaches a summer course in Athens, Greece. The narrator has 10 conversations filled with holes, lies and self-deceptions.

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Low-Key, Real-Life Heroism In 'March: Book Two'

11:29am January 29, 2015

by Etelka Lehoczky

Rep. John Lewis continues his graphic memoir series about the civil rights movement in March: Book Two. He isn't afraid to humble the famous and focus on those whom history often overlooks.

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Arts

A Haunting, Victorian-Inflected Dystopia In 'The Mime Order'

10:39am January 29, 2015

by Jane Ciabattari

Samantha Shannon's richly detailed follow-up to The Bone Season picks up with clairvoyant heroine Paige on the run after leading a revolt against the alien oppressors of her far-future England.

Michelle Tea's previous books include Rent Girl and Mermaid in Chelsea Creek.

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Arts

'How To Grow Up' Needs To Grow Up

3:05pm January 28, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Poet, novelist, memoirist and queer icon Michelle Tea makes a rare misstep in How to Grow Up, an essay collection that reviewer Michael Schaub calls "a well-intentioned, exasperating mess of a book."

Marie Mutsuki Mockett says the Japanese tradition of Tōrō nagashi — lighting floating paper lanterns in honor of loved ones — reminded her that she was not alone in her grief.

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Arts

After Father's Death, A Writer Learns How 'The Japanese Say Goodbye'

6:30pm January 27, 2015

by NPR Staff

Lost in a deep depression, Marie Mutsuki Mockett visited a temple owned by her mother's family near Fukushima. There, she found traditions and ways of thought that helped her work through her grief.

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Arts

'Mr. Mac' Paints Flowers In A Darkening World

1:53pm January 27, 2015

by Heller McAlpin

Esther Freud's new novel Mr. Mac and Me traces an unlikely friendship between a lonely boy and a struggling artist. Reviewer Heller McAlpin says the book has both technical prowess and grace.

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Arts

'The Jaguar's Children' Is Ripped From Heartbreaking Headlines

1:09pm January 27, 2015

by Alan Cheuse

Critic Alan Cheuse says John Vaillant's intense tale of illegal immigrants trapped in a tanker truck in the Arizona desert expands a single terrible story into a history of human suffering.

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Frank Sinatra captured by photographer William "PoPsie" Randolph during a 1943 concert. Author Ben Yagoda points to Sinatra as one of the interpreters who helped revive the Great American Songbook.

When Pop Broke Up With Jazz

9:00am January 27, 2015

by NPR Staff

For the first half of the 20th century, Tin Pan Alley songwriters like Irving Berlin and the Gershwins dominated pop music. By the the 1950s, tastes had changed, and the music changed with them.

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Arts

For A Taste Of Grimdark, Visit The 'Land Fit For Heroes'

3:01pm January 26, 2015

by Genevieve Valentine

Richard K. Morgan's epic sword-and-planet (and alien technology) Land Fit for Heroes series is a good introduction to grimdark, a subgenre that aims to show the gritty underside of fantasy fiction.