Books

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Arts

Billy Crystal Finds Fun In Growing Old (But Still Can't Find His Keys)

3:48pm October 17, 2013

Crystal isn't happy about turning 65, but at least he's finding a way to laugh about it. The actor and comedian's new memoir — Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? — is on the best-seller list and he'll be back on Broadway in November.

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Billy Crystal returned to voice the role of Mike Wazowski in 2013's Monsters University, sequel to the hit Pixar comedy that introduced the outgoing one-eyed scareball — sidekick to John Goodman's furry blue-and-purple star.

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Billy Crystal's 'Foolin', Full Of Fun — And Feeling

5:07pm October 16, 2013

by NPR Staff

The comic and actor talks to NPR's Scott Simon about his insomnia, his friendship with baseball legend Mickey Mantle, and the love of his life. They're all topics in his memoir, Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell are My Keys?

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After Sept. 11, Special Ops Were 'Injected With Steroids'

5:58am October 16, 2013

Two recent operations in Libya and Somalia offer a vivid example of how members of U.S. Special Operations are being deployed around the world to go after terrorists. Renee Montagne talks to author Jeremy Scahill about his newest book, Dirty Wars, which is about the rise of special forces.

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Jayne Anne Phillips' previous novel, Lark and Termite, was selected as a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction in 2009.

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'Quiet Dell' Revives A Depression-Era Murder Story

6:12pm October 15, 2013

by Lynn Neary

In 1931, Harry Powers killed two women and three children at his home in Quiet Dell, W.Va. Writer Jayne Anne Phillips learned about the murders from her mother, who was a child when the deaths became a media sensation. Phillips' new novel retells the tragedy through the eyes of a young reporter.

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Graham Nash Has 'Wild Tales' To Spare

3:11pm October 15, 2013

by NPR Staff

As part of Crosby, Stills & Nash, the British singer-songwriter helped define a West Coast sound. Here, he discusses the influence of Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers and marijuana on his career, as well as his new memoir, Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life.

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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos holds up the Kindle Fire HD in two sizes during a press conference in Santa Monica, Calif., in September 2012.

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One-Stop Shop: Jeff Bezos Wants You To Buy 'Everything' On Amazon

12:51pm October 15, 2013

In his new book, The Everything Store, journalist Brad Stone says Amazon "ended up forever changing the way we shop and read." He says CEO Jeff Bezos started out selling books, but always had the intention of turning the online market into a company that sold everything.

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Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an, by Denise Spellberg

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The Surprising Story Of 'Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an'

2:53pm October 13, 2013

by NPR Staff

Author Denise Spellberg's book draws parallels between the beliefs of the founding father and religious tolerance in the United States today.

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Meet Ben's Sister Jane, History's Forgotten Franklin

2:32pm October 10, 2013

by Maureen Corrigan

For centuries, the memory of Jane Franklin has languished in brother Benjamin's shadow. While Ben is on currency and splashed across textbooks, Jane's life of curiosity and hardship has been forgotten. In Book of Ages, historian Jill Lepore draws a portrait of one of the American Revolution's "little women."

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Canadian Alice Munro Wins Nobel's Literature Prize

7:39am October 10, 2013

Alice Munro, "master of the contemporary short story," has won the Nobel Prize in Literature," the Royal Swedish Academy announced Thursday morning. In 2009, she won the Man Booker International Prize for her lifetime work.

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Elizabeth Smart Says Kidnapper Was A 'Master At Manipulation'

4:08pm October 08, 2013

by NPR Staff

Smart, who was held captive for nine months at age 14, describes the 2002 ordeal in a new memoir called My Story. She's now an advocate for children's safety education and says "the best punishment" she can give her abusers is to move on with her life and be happy.

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