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As Independence Vote Approaches, A Spirited Novel About The Scottish Experience

8:12pm September 12, 2014

by Marie Mutsuki Mockett

Next week the people of Scotland vote on whether to become independent from the U.K. Author Marie Mutsuki Mockett recommends a book that illuminates the Scottish psyche, Iain Banks' The Crow Road.

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Fact Meets Fiction In Tale Of A Slave, Explorer And Survivor

4:56pm September 12, 2014

by NPR Staff

A Moroccan slave named Estebanico was one of only four men to survive a 1528 expedition to America from Spain. The Moor's Account, a fictional memoir by Laila Lalami, tells the story through his eyes.

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'Father And Son' Is Part Homage, Part Indictment

12:29pm September 11, 2014

by Heller McAlpin

Marcos Giralt Torrente's memoir of his absentee father, the famed Spanish painter Juan Giralt, frequently resorts to lists and repetition to get across Torrente's exasperation, anger and love.

A first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was displayed at the London International Antiquarian Book Fair in 2013. Book critic Maureen Corrigan — who calls the cover "striking" — says she likes to think that if it landed on her porch t

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How 'Gatsby' Went From A Moldering Flop To A Great American Novel

2:53pm September 09, 2014

In So We Read On, Maureen Corrigan looks at the story behind The Great Gatsby, from F. Scott Fitzgerald's life to the era in which it's set. She says it's her favorite novel, but it wasn't always.

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James Ellroy's 'Perfidia' Is A Brutal, Beautiful Police Procedural

7:32pm September 08, 2014

by Jason Sheehan

Perfidia is a sprawling novel that takes place in 1940s LA. There are Pearl Harbor, internment camps, schemes within schemes. Ellroy weaves an epic tale that evokes an ugly time and an awful place.

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Stars Line Up To Reimagine Laura Nyro

11:28am September 06, 2014

The late Laura Nyro penned hits, including "And When I Die" and "Save the Country." NPR's Scott Simon speaks with composer Billy Childs about his new album of tributes, Reimagining Laura Nyro.

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The Considered Bite: Low-Carb Diets And Our Relationship With Food

8:39pm September 05, 2014

According to a new study, cutting back on carbs can lead to weight loss. Dana Goodyear and Jason Sheehan explore how to eat enjoyably, by recommending Tartine Bread and The Gastronomical Me.

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Legal Dilemmas Become Human Drama In Ian McEwan's Latest

8:39pm September 05, 2014

by Meg Wolitzer

The Children Act by Ian McEwan is about a judge whose ruling decides the fate of a teenager in ways she can't imagine. It's written with McEwan's trademark gracefulness and control.

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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wants to sell all e-books for $9.99, while the publisher Hachette wants to vary the prices.

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In E-Book Price War, Amazon's Long-Term Strategy Requires Short-Term Risks

1:10pm September 05, 2014

by Laura Sydell

Amazon's position is that "instead of selling 100,000 copies at $14.95, you would sell 200,000 copies, let's say, at $8.99 or $9.99," says industry analyst Tim Bajarin.

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'Warburg' Struggles For Love And Justice In Wartime Rome

4:26pm September 03, 2014

by Alan Cheuse

James Carroll's experience as a Catholic priest informs his new Warburg in Rome, which follows an American tasked with rescuing European Jews in the aftermath of the Nazi occupation of Rome.

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