Jan 20th, 2010 · Two best-selling writers have died. Mystery novelist Robert Parker passed away Monday in Boston. He is best known for a nearly 40 volume series with the character of Spenser, a tough and witty Boston private detective. On Sunday, Erich Segal died of a heart attack in his London home. He wrote Love Story which was made into a hit movie starring Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw.
Dec 4th, 2009 · Ever since the release of her hit 2006 album Begin to Hope, singer-songwriter Regina Spektor has become a left-field star. On her fifth studio album, this summer's Far, she makes her classical training work with her love of hip-hop, rock and jazz. In the process, she's again crafted an album full of intricate arrangements and witty lyricism.
Nov 14th, 2009 · Wes Anderson's new film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, has wry, witty foxes and other forest creatures. They're voiced by the likes of George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray, who make jokes and deals like urban sophisticates, then remind you that they really are wild animals. Host Scott Simon talks to director Wes Anderson, whose other films include The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore.
Sep 1st, 2009 · In Jonathan Tropper's This is Where I Leave You, witty, hapless, cuckolded Judd Foxman returns home to sit shiva for his dad and his assess his wrecked marriage. In a rare balancing act, the novel is as sensitive as it is funny.
Aug 6th, 2009 · A chronicle of two 18th-century grave robbers and their adventures among the Irish undead, Glenn McQuaid's feature film debut is more slapstick than horror. But as bargain-basement gore goes, it's smart, swift, witty and likable.
Jun 26th, 2009 · Piano Jazz celebrates the centennial of songwriter and lyricist Johnny Mercer. Pianist-singer and Mercer enthusiast Daryl Sherman brings her sophisticated swing and witty charm to the show for performances of "Too Marvelous for Words" and "Jeepers Creepers." McPartland joins in on one of her favorite Mercer tunes, "Skylark."
Jun 15th, 2009 · Think women aren't funny? Lynn Harris recommends three books by famous funny girls Dolly Parton, Lucille Ball and Carrie Fisher that will force you to think again.
Apr 14th, 2009 · Emily Fox Gordon skewers the foibles of academic life in It Will Come to Me, a comic novel set on the campus of a large Southern university. The book is the first work of fiction from the acclaimed memoirist.