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"Today I begin to understand what love must be, if it exists.... When we are parted, we each feel the lack of the other half of ourselves. We are incomplete like a book in two volumes of which the first has been lost. That is what I imagine love to be: incompleteness in absence."

—Erich Fromm (1900-80) German-born American psychoanalyst, emphasized role of social conditioning

 

NPR On Books



Jokes To Tell Your Parents For Rosh Hashana 
  Sun, 05 Sep 2010 07:53:00 -0400 
    When Sam Hoffman and Eric Spiegelman's video of Hoffman's 60-something mother telling an off-color joke on YouTube went viral, they knew they had something special.  The success of their subsequent website, OldJewsTellingJokes.com, and their upcoming book have proved them right.


'Phantom Tollbooth' Creators Reunited By An 'Ogre' 
  Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:00:00 -0400 
    In the early 1960s, writer Norton Juster and illustrator Jules Feiffer created The Phantom Tollbooth, which quickly became a kid-lit classic. Now, 50 years later, the two have finally collaborated once more -- this time, on a picture book called The Odious Ogre. They speak to NPR's Liane Hansen about their partnership and their new project.


Victory At Marathon Saved A Lot More Than A Race 
  Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:27:00 -0400 
    The story's a classic: An outnumbered band of Athenians pushes back the  mighty Persian army. But the battle of Marathon, 2,500 years ago in ancient Greece, left a legacy that extends far beyond the name of a famous race. Historian Richard Billows explores the legendary battle in his new book, Marathon: How One Battle Changed Western Civilization.


Next Week: Franzen Talks About 'Freedom' 
  Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:00:00 -0400 
    Jonathan Franzen's new novel, Freedom, is being called a "masterpiece of American fiction." He was recently on the cover of Time magazine -- the first living author on its cover in more than a decade. Next weekend, Franzen will join us to talk about Freedom, the story of a contemporary American family in St. Paul, Minn.


Excerpt: 'Marathon: How One Battle Changed Western Civilization' 
  Sat, 04 Sep 2010 09:16:00 -0400 
    Excerpt from Marathon: How One Battle Changed Western Civilization


Memories Of War And Reading Clubs 
  Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:00:00 -0400 
    Patrick Hennessey was the youngest front-line captain in the British Army, served in Iraq and Afghanistan and earned a commendation for gallantry. Host Scott Simon speaks with Hennessey about his memoir, The Junior Officers' Reading Club.


English Lives. Tell The Grammar Police. 
  Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:00:00 -0400 
    Roy Peter Clark of the Poynter Institute says we ought to remind ourselves that language lives, breathes and learns more as it goes along. He advises professionals to write carefully, but not defensively and certainly not drably. Host Scott Simon speaks with Clark about his new book, The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English.


Eat Your Way Down I-95, And Other Stops To Make 
  Sat, 04 Sep 2010 04:19:00 -0400 
    In their seven-year love affair with Interstate 95, Stan Posner and Sandra Phillips-Posner have found the best Polish sausage, Berger cookies and a battleship you can spend the night on.


A Funny, Fractured Field Guide To A 'Wild Kingdom' 
  Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:42:00 -0400 
    Kevin Huizenga's alter-ego Glenn Ganges returns in his latest collection of spiky, intellectually adventurous stories -- drawn in friendly, stylized art. The Wild Kingdom is like entries from the Encyclopedia Britannica of an alternate, funnier universe.


'666': A Tale Of The Tribulation So Bad, It's Good 
  Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:00:00 -0400 
    When Rhoda Janzen was 9, her mother busted her for reading the thriller 666 during an incredibly dull sermon at their Mennonite church. To this day, Janzen revels in the terribly written prose about the Antichrist, cannibalism, global famine and apocalyptic doom.


God Not Needed To Create Universe, Hawking Says 
  Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:57:00 -0400 
    In his new book, The Grand Design, the British physicist says unraveling a complex series of theories will explain the universe. The book, written with American physicist and author Leonard Mlodinow, will be published Sept. 9.


Where's The Beef? One Man's Search For 'Steak' 
  Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:50:00 -0400 
    Mark Schatzker, a lifelong steak lover, was disappointed in the steaks he was eating. So Schatzker set off on a quest to find the very best piece of beef in the world -- a quest that took him from feedlots in Texas, to French cave paintings of prehistoric cattle, to the Argentine pampas.


Tony Blair On War, Globalization And 'My Political Life' 
  Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0400 
    The former prime minister of the United Kingdom's memoir, My Life: A Political Journey, is on sale in the U.S. Blair spoke to Steve Inskeep about Iraq, globalization and his political career.


Paperback Nonfiction Bestsellers For Sept. 2 
  Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:00:00 -0400 
    Now in its 219th year, the newest Old Farmer's Almanac makes its debut with weather predictions, gardening advice and mouthwatering recipes for Dutch ovens.


Ricks' Picks: Best Books About War In Iraq 
  Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:00:00 -0400 
    For more than seven years, Americans learned about the war from news reports. But between headlines, many also turned to books to understand the strategy and the lessons of the conflict. As "Operation New Dawn" begins, Thomas Ricks picks the best and the worst books about the Iraq war.
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