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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Karl Rove released a memoir Tuesday that many reviewers criticized as being more defense of George W. Bush-era policies than revealing look at the legendary operative once dubbed "Bush's Brain." But most political memoirs share a similar aim: to get a jump on shaping history as it's written.
In Eric Puchner's novel Model Home, a father relocates his family from the Midwest to Southern California, but his dreams for success, and theirs, falls flat. It's the first novel by the award-winning short-story writer.
In February, Henry Holt & Company stopped the presses on The Last Train from Hiroshima by Charles Pellegrino, amid questions of fraud. Motoko Rich, publishing reporter for the New York Times, shares what Pellegrino said to her about the allegations.
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David Grann spent years documenting true stories of obsession and deception. He includes an improbable international impostor and the mysterious death of a Sherlock Holmes scholar in his book, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes.
David M. Walker is the former comptroller general of the United States. His book, Comeback America, details the current financial crisis and offers his ideas on controlling spending and restoring fiscal responsibility in the United States.
Is the biblically inspired Angelology the next Da Vinci Code? James Hynes' Next causes us to inaugurate the genre "Mick lit" (think middle-aged men and the Rolling Stones). A prominent advocate of No Child Left Behind reverses course. And ace spy John Wells is back, undercover and in deep.
Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, about 4 million Iraqis have fled their homes. Another 2 million have fled the country entirely. Throughout the war, NPR's Deborah Amos has spent much of her time with Iraqis who fled to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. She has a new book out: Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile and Upheaval in the Middle East.
Deborah Blum's history of the birth of forensic science details the work of Charles Norris, New York City's first chief medical examiner, and Alexander Gettler, Norris' head toxicologist. The two advanced many of the technologies that allow scientists to track toxic substances in the body.
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Melissa Febos graduated from college with straight A's and a prestigious internship. She also led a secret life as a dominatrix. Her new memoir, Whip Smart, details her time working in a sex dungeon in midtown Manhattan. She describes what it was like to work for four years at the upscale S&M house.
The latest novel from John Banville throws a handful of Greek gods into the household of a glum human family to explore sex, love, faith and mortality. Reviewer Maureen Corrigan says The Infinities puts Banville's literary gifts on prominent display.
Everyone has his or her own secrets, but what happens when your most intimate ones are shared with loved ones? Family secrets can be the hardest to hide — and the most provocative. Martha Toll suggest three books for when no one knows you better than your family — and that's the problem.
In his new book, former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney takes President Obama's foreign policy, economic recovery and national security plans to task while articulating his own ideas. Host Liane Hansen speaks with Romney about No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.
In Gabrielle Zevin's novel The Hole We're In, the Pomeroy family is in money trouble, and every move seems to make things worse. Zevin's characters may seem like monsters, but the author says they're just trying to do their best under difficult circumstances.