Books

Clamoring For Tolstoy...In Juvie?

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:22:45 +0000

“Books Behind Bars” is program which pairs undergraduates from the University of Virginia with inmates at the Beaumont Juvenile Correctional Center to read classic Russian literature. Prison staff notice a marked change in behavior among inmates who take the class, and researchers have documented similar improvements in decision-making, social skill, and civic engagement among prisoners and undergrads who participate in the class.

Speaking Up About Violence In A "Forgotten" Country

Brady Carlson — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:00:47 +0000

It may be the largest war in the world that we don’t hear about. The death toll of what is now called the Great War of Africa likely stretches into the millions.

The Rebranding Of Sylvia Plath

Virginia Prescott — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:23:05 +0000

This year marks the 50th anniversary of poet Sylvia Plath’s death by suicide, the singular lens through which many readers and academics have viewed her life, writing, and marriage. Now, a new generation is re-discovering Plath from a fresh perspective, one not colored by her sad and macabre death.

Word Of Mouth 05.11.2013

Rebecca Lavoie — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

In this special edition of Word of Mouth: Girl Power Interrupted.

Augusten Burroughs

Virginia Prescott — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:10:57 +0000

It's been ten years since Augusten Burroughs' memoir Dry was published. In that decade, the author of Running With Scissors has gotten married, stayed sober, and written a self-help book, This is How: Surviving What You Think You Can't, now out in paperback.

Best-Selling Trend: The Funny Female Memoir

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:30:39 +0000

Lena Dunham, creator of the HBO hit series Girls, recently signed 3.5 million dollar book contact for a memoir. When published, Dunham’s book will share shelf space with bestsellers like Jenny Lawson’s Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir and Heather McDonald’s My Inapropriate Life: Some Material Not Suitable For Small Children, Nuns Or Mature Adults. Part humor, part memoir, books in this category are almost always written by women and openly explore sex, drinking and even mental illness in a brazen and unrepentant manner. And readers, especially those that are not offended easily, are snapping them up.

Jean Railla, a writer and cultural observer is here to tell us more.

Related: Gawker's viral blog about Lena Dunham's book deal.

A New Look At Calvin Coolidge

Brady Carlson — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Biographer Amity Shlaes say our thirtieth president was deeper than his nickname Silent Cal suggests or what his critics called a man of few words and.. frequent naps.. but a visionary conservative who promoted ideas of limited government and individual responsibility and who oversaw an era of remarkable growth and optimism that preceded the Great Depression.

Guest

Reverse Innovation (Rebroadcast)

Laura Knoy — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

A new book by a Dartmouth professor explores the changing world of advances in technology, medicine, and marketing and the greater role that developing nations are playing. More and more, innovations are occurring in poorer countries, then exported to wealthy nations, turning traditional patterns on their head. We’ll hear some examples, and why our guest says this could benefit everyone.

Guest

You're All Just Jealous Of My Jetpack

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Tom Gauld's cartoon panels have been described as bleak, minimalist, sweet and funny. The London-based cartoonist and illustrator draws a weekly cartoon for The Guardian newspaper’s book review section, and has cracked the US market with comic strips in The New York Times Magazine. A new collection of those strips called, You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, will be released in the US on April 30^th.

The Trials And Triumphs Of Levon Helm

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:31:55 +0000

Moving back in time for a moment to 1976 when The Band released The Last Waltz, Martin Scorcese’s film of that final show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The film is often held up as the greatest rock movie ever and almost universally loved, except by Levon Helm…the musician, actor, composer and original member of The Band who died a year ago this week. But then, Levon Helm was a drummer who marched to a different drummer, Helm ’s creative struggles, crippling personal losses, and musical renaissance after battling cancer are at the heart of a new documentary film,and a new book by the writer, editor and spy magazine alum Jamie Malanowski.

Dusting Off The Classics: Why You Should Revisit Your High School Reading List

Virginia Prescott — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:45:07 +0000

Kevin Smokler is setting out to resurrect America’s long-ago encounters. Works such as The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 451 and Bartleby: The Scrivener, skimmed and discarded by 15 year-old high school hands in days of yore, are being taken off the shelf, dusted off, and re-explored by the same pair of older, more experienced eyes. By compiling a list of fifty high school “classics”, Kevin spent ten months re-reading the stories that have become distant, unquestionable deities in the eyes of many middle-aged Americans. What he found was profound; and in some ways, unexpected. Kevin, now 39, amassed his thoughts and findings in his new book Practical Classics: Fifty Reasons to Reread Fifty Books You Haven’t Touched Since High School.

Zero-Waste Home

Virginia Prescott — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:38:17 +0000

Many of us have good intentions when it comes to reducing household waste – but too often those canvas totes get left in the closet, food scraps avoid the compost pile, and product packaging fills the trash-bag. One head of household has found the motivation and creativity needed to take home-waste reduction to a whole other level. Bea Johnson is the blogger behind Zero-Waste Home, and now author of a book by the same name. She and her family produce only one quart of garbage per year.

Kim Jong-Il: The Unauthorized Autobiography

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:00:00 +0000

America is no stranger to North Korea in the headlines; South Korea's army is on alert today after a suspected cyberattack by their northern neighbors. The eniamatic empire is still living under the cloud of its departed dictator, Kim Jong Il. Now celebrity ghostwriter Michael Malice is setting his sights on an “unauthorized autobiography” based on late North Korean leader. The late public figure and his country isn’t often associated with comedy these days, but Malice seeks to use humor to elicit understanding amidst a strong cultural divide.

Word of Mouth 03.16.2013

Rebecca Lavoie — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 13:21:49 +0000

Our niftiest and spiffiest content, all in one great show. This week, a look at the shifting human condition. Holocaust survivors being turned into holograms, a Russian "Swiss Family Robinson" that missed most of the 20th Century, corporate anthropologists, transplant "tourism," the nasty effect of internet comments, and a former professor pens a memoir about being stalked by an ex- student online.

Author Circles Purgatory With Personal Tale Of Depression

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:34:33 +0000

Research published last month suggests that major mental illnesses may have more genetic associations than previously thought, perhaps leading to new diagnoses and treatments. Author David Blistein wrote his latest book, "David's Inferno: My Journey Through the Dark Wood of Depression," inspired by his own experience.