NPR Books

Writing On The Sly, Nathaniel Rich's Secret Debut

NPR Books - October 5, 2013 - 7:13am

It took over five years for Nathaniel Rich to finish his first novel — maybe because he was writing The Mayor's Tongue secretly, first as a college student, and then while writing film criticism during the day.

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'Outliers' Puts Self-Made Success To The Test

NPR Books - November 18, 2008 - 1:00pm

Why do Asian kids outperform American kids in math? How did Bill Gates become a billionaire computer entrepreneur? Malcolm Gladwell takes on these questions and more in his book Outliers. He argues that the "self-made man" is a myth.

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Annie Leibovitz: The View From Behind The Lens

NPR Books - November 18, 2008 - 12:10pm

Whoopi Goldberg in a milk bath? Meryl Streep in a white mime face? After training her lens on some of the most notable faces of our day, the photographer reveals the stories behind some of her famous portraits.

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Comic John Hodgman Shares 'More Information'

NPR Books - November 18, 2008 - 11:08am

In More Information Than You Require, the follow-up to the best-selling The Areas of My Expertise, John Hodgman offers another compilation of false facts and trivia.

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For Books, Is Obama New Oprah?

New York Times Book Reviews - November 17, 2008 - 10:35pm
So just which book “about F.D.R.’s first 100 days” was President-elect Barack Obama talking about when he appeared on “60 Minutes” on Sunday?

Categories: Book Reviews

Are 3 Novels, Revised as One, a New Book?

New York Times Book Reviews - November 17, 2008 - 9:35pm
Among the nominees for this year’s National Book Award in fiction is a book that some have complained is not exactly new: Peter Matthiessen’s “Shadow Country.”

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Books of The Times: It’s True: Success Succeeds, and Advantages Can Help

New York Times Book Reviews - November 17, 2008 - 8:40pm
Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book employs the same recipe as his previous two best sellers, but does so in such a clumsy manner that it italicizes the weaknesses of his methodology.

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The Vampire of the Mall

New York Times Book Reviews - November 17, 2008 - 7:59pm
Robert Pattinson, the heartthrob star of the coming film adaptation of the vampire romance novel “Twilight,” meets his squealing fans.

Categories: Book Reviews

Fighting Illness From 'The Edge Of Medicine'

NPR Books - November 17, 2008 - 12:17pm

What if you could diagnose cancer just by smelling it? Dr. William Hanson explains the 'Diag-Nose' — an electronic nose that can do just that — plus other medical technologies that he says will change our lives.

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What Is Art For?

New York Times Book Reviews - November 17, 2008 - 11:46am
The poet, philosopher, translator and scholar Lewis Hyde has spent his life trying to figure that out — and became a literary cult figure in the process.

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How To Be Killer At Cocktail Parties

NPR Books - November 17, 2008 - 11:35am

Awkward over hors d'oeuvres? A mess with martinis? Knowing what to say at a cocktail party can be overwhelming — but these three books will have you culturally informed in no time.

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The Joy of English

New York Times Book Reviews - November 17, 2008 - 10:47am
A usage book from Roy Blount Jr. delights in language, “sonicky” and otherwise.

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Fiction Chronicle

New York Times Book Reviews - November 17, 2008 - 9:08am
New novels by Céline Curiol, Michel Jouvet, Nicholas Drayson, Andreï Makine and Attila Bartis.

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The 'Unholy Business' Of Biblical Forgeries

NPR Books - November 17, 2008 - 8:31am

In 2002, archaeologists claimed a box of ancient bones held the remains of Jesus' brother. Nina Burleigh discusses her book, Unholy Business: The True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land, which explores how forgers create fake artifacts to "prove" Biblical stories to be true.

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Edelman Issues Challenge On Commitment To Kids

NPR Books - November 17, 2008 - 6:00am

For decades, Marian Wright Edelman has been a proud bullhorn on behalf of disadvantaged children. In a wide-ranging conversation with Farai Chideya, Edelman reveals whether she'd accept a post in an Obama administration and speaks about her new book, The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small.

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Author Urges Investing In Obesity And Nice Legs

NPR Books - November 17, 2008 - 5:48am

Hedge fund manager James Altucher says that the way to make money with minimal stress is to invest in lasting demographic trends like identity theft, chocolate and women's legs. He discusses his new book, The Forever Portfolio, and offers his top 10 stock picks.

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Books of the Times: You Know We All Love You, Professor. Now Get Out of Here.

New York Times Book Reviews - November 16, 2008 - 9:54pm
In “Gone Tomorrow,” a sharply observed yet tender novel of academic life and its many sand traps, P. F. Kluge describes the dangers that a writer-teacher faces.

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Edward Sheehan, 78, Foreign Correspondent, Dies

New York Times Book Reviews - November 16, 2008 - 3:12am
Mr. Sheehan’s perceptive, literate dispatches from the Middle East, Africa and Central America explored the political machinations of the powerful and the misery of the powerless.

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Peter Levinson, Publicist and Biographer of Jazz Greats, Is Dead at 74

New York Times Book Reviews - November 16, 2008 - 1:40am
Mr. Levinson, a music publicist, parlayed his close familiarity with jazz personalities into rich and sometimes intimate biographies of them.

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Paging Through History's Beautiful Science

NPR Books - November 15, 2008 - 10:54pm

A new exhibit at California's Huntington Library is opening up the work of the giants of science. Colorful star charts, close-up lunar sketches and dog-eared books reveal the world as seen by the eyes of Newton, Galileo and Copernicus.

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