Search results for

There are different kinds of fat people in literature — funny or comforting, sometimes despicable. But Sarai Walker's Dietland gives us a new fat protagonist — complex, compelling and dangerous.

Miranda July's new novel The First Bad Man defies neat summaries; reviewer Annalisa Quinn calls July "a master of the intimate weirdnesses of human thought," who treats dusty mental corners with care.

Polish author Olga Tokarczuk's new collection is a cabinet of curiosities — surreal, loosely connected stories about the human body, about movement, about two-headed calves and saints' relics.

As consumers cut back their spending in the worsening economy, the effects are being felt even in the wastepaper recycling and exporting industry. Decreased demand for products means a drop in the need for packaging — and the recycled materials that it's made from.

The NPR Board of Directors has announced that Vivian Schiller will be the new president and CEO. Schiller is vice president and general manager of NYT.com.

Amy Dickinson, author of the syndicated advice column "Ask Amy," writes about the strong women in her life in her new memoir, The Mighty Queens of Freeville. The youngest in her family, Dickinson says she's "the plankton at the end of the food chain and the advice flows down."

Many listeners wrote in about Wade Goodwyn's story on UFO sightings in Texas, and one pointed out that we missed a teaching opportunity about superior mirage phenomenon. Robert Siegel talks with Christine Pulliam, a spokeswoman for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, to find out more.

Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales steps down after months of controversy surrounding the firing of federal prosecutors.

The grand lady and great dame Kitty Carlisle Hart passed away peacefully after a short illness this past week. The singer-actress had lived 96 fabulous years.

The government rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sent mortgage rates plunging on Monday. Some bond investors say this is a positive first sign. But the future of these two mortgage financing giants depends on what happens when a new administration takes over in Washington.