Mark Twain's Autobiography To Be Published 100 Years After Death
Author Mark Twain once wrote, “It is no use to keep private information which you can't show off.” Twain, whose given name was Samuel Clemens, will finally show off his most private information 100...
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Character Witness: Craig Robinson
Craig Robinson is best known as Michelle Obama's big brother and it's a role he says he's more than happy to play. After all, when they were growing up, Michelle was always known as Craig Robinson's...
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Bill Gates and Bill Gates, Sr. on "Showing Up for Life."
How do you raise a child who's going to grow up to be wildly successful? (And maybe even a centibillionaire?) That's a version of the question every parent asks themselves. Every parent wants their...
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Scott Turow: Inspiration for 'Innocent'
No one ever expected best selling author Scott Turow to publish a sequel to his very first novel, the 1987 legal thriller “Presumed Innocent,” mostly because he said he’d never publish one.It's been...
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Last Words of the Executed: A Cultural History of Dying Words
From telling a joke to talking to their families to denying their crimes, the last words of death row inmates tend to center on similar themes throughout history. Why are these words so compelling? And...
View ArticleRemembering 'American Splendor' Writer Harvey Pekar
Comic book writer Harvey Pekar, best known for his series "American Splendor," died yesterday at the age of 70. According to reports, Pekar's wife, Joyce Brabner, discovered Pekar's body in their home...
View ArticleSummer Reading: 'Empire of the Summer Moon'
We continue our summer reading series with journalist S.C. Gwynne, who brings us his new book, "Empire of the Summer Moon," about the final battles between Comanche Indians and white settlers. It's the...
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Summer Reading: 'Lucy'
This summer we’ve been making a list of great beach reads or books to crack open poolside. We’ve talked to Justin Cronin, author of 'The Passage' and Hilary Thayer Hamman about her novel ‘Anthropology...
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Jerry Craft: On Becoming Their White Boy
Jerry Craft was 20 years old when a semi-pro baseball recruiter called him up to see if he'd consider playing for the Witchita Falls Graham Stars. He had been playing college baseball at Texas Tech and...
View ArticleListeners Respond: What Are the Best Movie Versions of Books?
Yesterday, we asked listeners to tell us what movie version of a book they like better than the book itself. Many of you responded with answers ranging from the classic "Shawshank Redemption" to the...
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How a Heat Wave Helped Make a President
When you think of the biggest natural disasters in U.S. history, what are the first things that come to mind? Certainly Hurricane Katrina, maybe one of the several San Francisco earthquakes, the great...
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The Week in Books
In the English-speaking literary world, the Man Booker Prize is a very big deal. It’s awarded each year for the best original, full-length novel written in the English language by a citizen of the...
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Hearing North Koreans' Stories in 'Nothing to Envy'
We frequently aim to pull the curtain back on stories that are hidden or hard to understand…whether they’re political campaigns or scientific breakthroughs. But when it comes to the nation and story of...
View ArticleThe Evolution of E-Books and Our Literary Future
What would our world look like without paperback books? One publishing company has taken one step closer to the reality of eliminating paperback books entirely. Dorchester Publishing has decided to...
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Summer Reading: Mona Simpson's 'My Hollywood'
We're continuing our summer reading series with a look at modern parenthood and childcare. Mona Simpson's new book, "My Hollywood," looks at the relationship between modern parents and the nannies they...
View ArticlePlane Living
Writer and philosopher Alain de Botton discusses his new book A Week at the Airport and what he learned as "writer-in-residence" at Heathrow airport.
View ArticleGeorge Washington: A New History
Ron Chernow has written about big names in American history, including Rockefeller, JP Morgan, Alexander Hamilton. His latest book examines one of the biggest names in American history: George...
View ArticleNewsweek and The Daily Beast Announce Merger
Seventy-seven-year-old American news institution, meet two-year-old bright reporting Web site. That's the word from the newly-formed Newsweek Daily Beast Company, the joint venture that formed on...
View ArticleFor Children of Immigrants, 'Home' is a Complex Concept
As part of our week-long series, we speak with two immigrant writers whose parents were forced to flee their homelands because of political unrest, and came to rest in America. Both live outside the...
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Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia
Michael Korda comes from a larger-than-life family—his uncle was the colorful film mogul Alexander Korda—and perhaps this is why, as a novelist, memoirist, and biographer, he has been drawn to...
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Writers Discuss Dreams and Ambitions at Happy Ending
The theme of the Happy Ending event at Joe's Pub on November 10th was dreams and ambitions. Jennifer Egan, Julia Holmes and Teddy Wayne read from their new novels, which offer unconventional views of...
View ArticleGreat Expectations
In this week's episode of Selected Shorts, we have three stories to offer that center around the theme of parental expectations—two by outstanding American short story writers, and one by a leading...
View ArticlePredictor of Financial Crisis Dispenses Bite-Sized Wisdom
Nassim Taleb is the philosopher and former trader who correctly predicted that the mathematical models Wall Street used to measure risk would lead to a massive financial crisis. His new book, ‘The Bed...
View ArticleUpcoming 'Huckleberry Finn' Edition Replaces 'N-Word'
A new edition of Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" is being published in February, replacing the "n-word," which shows up 219 times in the original edition. Instead the publisher, New South Books, uses...
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I'll Take 'New York City Public Schools' For $500
Even if you are the reigning champion of your neighborhood bar's weekly trivia night, rest assured you're probably still no match for two of the city's smartest factoid geeks.Two New York City public...
View ArticleTalk to Me: New Orleans as Paradox
New Orleans manages to leave a mark, good or bad, on its tourists, natives, and those who've decided to take up roots there. Most people who visit have a great time, but many can attest to how the...
View ArticleTalk To Me: A Happy Beginning for Happy Ending
The Happy Ending Music & Reading Series is celebrating a happy beginning. The series performance on June 8 at Joe’s Pub marked the launch of Happy Ending’s partnership with Yaddo, an artists’...
View ArticleContext and a Movie: "The Help"
The Help, based on the popular book by the same name, opened in movie theaters yesterday. Sheri Parks, professor of American studies at the University of Maryland and author of Fierce Angels: The...
View ArticleThe Maid's Daughter
Mary Romero, professor of Justice Studies and Social Inquiry at Arizona State University and author of The Maid's Daughter: Living Inside and Outside the American Dream, tells the story of Olivia, who...
View ArticleSix Summer Reads for Classical Music Fans
Summer is prime season for reading. Whether you are headed to the beach or to your backyard, here are six recommendations for new music-related books to bring with you:1. Moral Fire: Musical Portraits...
View ArticleDavid Mitchell ‘Pole Vaults’ to Cloud Atlas
Praised for being inventive and original, the 2004 novel Cloud Atlas written by David Mitchell tells a story through six separate but related narratives, each set in a different time and place, and...
View ArticleEnglish Class: Hold the Literature?
Many teachers are afraid classic works of fiction are about to lose ground to nonfiction in English classes, replaced by historical documents, newspaper articles, and even instruction manuals. That...
View ArticleThe Improbable Delights of Industrial Musicals
Here's an in-depth look at--and listen to--a bizarre and obscure bit of American history: Industrial Musicals. These come from the 1950s through the 1980s, a time when corporations wooed, soothed, and...
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