"Liesure without books is death, and burial of a man alive."
—Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4BC?-AD 65) [The Younger] Roman Stoic philosopher, writer, tutor
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Transcending Hardships By Saving Others In 'Constellation'
Sat, 25 May 2013 17:31:00 -0400
In his debut novel, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, Anthony Marra takes readers to the war-torn republic of Chechnya. People disappear, informers betray and those with humanity endure great hardships.
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'Steal The Menu': A Chronicle Of A Career In Food Coverage
Sat, 25 May 2013 08:00:00 -0400
When Raymond Sokolov began writing about food, it was considered a specialty portfolio. Today, celebrity chefs abound in the U.S. and Britain, with cookbooks, TV shows and groupies. Host Scott Simon speaks with Sokolov about his new book, Steal the Menu: A Memoir of Forty Years in Food.
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Gateway Arch 'Biography' Reveals Complex History Of An American Icon
Sat, 25 May 2013 05:55:37 -0400
The gleaming stainless steel arch in St. Louis is, officially, a monument to westward expansion. But in The Gateway Arch: A Biography, Tracy Campbell argues that the monument's meaning is more complicated. He tells NPR about the controversies, the clout and the costs behind the 630-foot structure.
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Prepare For Takeoff With 'Cockpit Confidential'
Sat, 25 May 2013 05:55:00 -0400
In his new book, pilot and columnist Patrick Smith explains why you have to turn off your cellphone for takeoff and landing, and why your ideas about autopilot are probably all wrong. He wants people to "re-appreciate the act of air travel. It's not as horrible as everybody thinks it is."
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A Race Against Time To Find WWI's Last 'Doughboys'
Fri, 24 May 2013 16:39:00 -0400
In 2003, Richard Rubin set out to talk to every American veteran of World War I he could find. With help from the French, he tracked down dozens of centenarian vets and recorded their stories in a new book called The Last of the Doughboys.
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'Lunch Lady' Author Helps Students Draw Their Own Heroes
Thu, 23 May 2013 16:33:00 -0400
Can you imagine your own superhero? That's the question author and illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka posed to kids on a recent afternoon at a school in Washington, D.C. Krosoczka also described how he overcame a difficult childhood to become the author of the beloved Lunch Lady series.
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Fictional 'Mothers' Reveal Facts Of A Painful Adoption Process
Wed, 22 May 2013 13:08:00 -0400
After years trying to conceive, novelist Jennifer Gilmore and her husband decided to adopt. What they thought would be a relatively simple process was instead a long and painful one. In her latest novel, Gilmore channels these autobiographical experiences into fiction.
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After Crashing In Canadian 'Abyss,' Four Men Fight To Survive
Tue, 21 May 2013 03:09:00 -0400
On an icy night in 1984, a commuter plane crashed in the wilderness. Six passengers died, but four survived: the pilot, a politician, a policeman and a prisoner. Carol Shaben's Into the Abyss describes their fight to make it through that frigid night alive.
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Courtside Chemistry: How NBA's Phil Jackson Won 'Eleven Rings'
Tue, 21 May 2013 03:08:00 -0400
Jackson is famous for his philosophical take on basketball and for the many stars he led to championship triumphs. He taught his players yoga and gave them assigned reading — but also pushed them to intensely practice fundamental skills. His new book looks back on a legendary coaching career.
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Unacceptable Anger From 'The Woman Upstairs'
Sun, 19 May 2013 16:09:00 -0400
"Women's anger is very scary to people," author Claire Messud says. Her new novel, The Woman Upstairs, features a seething main character, a young woman whose anger is unsettling.
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Decades Later And Across An Ocean, A Novel Gets Its Due
Sun, 19 May 2013 16:09:00 -0400
John Williams' Stoner sold just 2,000 copies when it was originally published in 1965. It's now acknowledged as a classic work, is a best-seller across Europe and the No. 1 novel in the Netherlands.
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Stories Of Hope Amid America's 'Unwinding'
Sun, 19 May 2013 05:41:00 -0400
When the factory she worked at closed down, Tammy Thomas reinvented herself as a community organizer; and when Dean Price's truck stop business went belly up, he became a champion of biofuel. In a new book, George Packer examines how ordinary people are adapting to a new America.
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Siblings' Separation Haunts In 'Kite Runner' Author's Latest
Sun, 19 May 2013 05:41:00 -0400
Khaled Hosseini's new novel, like his two earlier works, is set partly in Afghanistan — but this time, political turmoil isn't a major element of the plot. Instead, And The Mountains Echoed is a story of a family's loss that spans decades and continents.
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'Waiting To Be Heard' No More, Amanda Knox Speaks Out
Sat, 18 May 2013 16:41:00 -0400
Less than two months into her study abroad program in Italy, Amanda Knox was accused and eventually convicted of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher. After her conviction was overturned, Knox returned home to Seattle — and now faces a potential retrial. Knox tells her story in a new memoir.
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'That's That': A Memoir Of Loving And Leaving Northern Ireland
Sat, 18 May 2013 05:13:00 -0400
Colin Broderick's new memoir, That's That, chronicles his childhood in Northern Ireland during the modern-day "Troubles." Broderick says growing up in what was essentially a war zone seemed normal to him at the time.
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