Reverbiage: Stories from NPR tagged 'novel'

'Twilight' Fans Destination: Forks, Wash.

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:00:00 EST

The teen vampire movie "Twilight" opens in theaters on Friday. The movie follows the best-selling series of romance-thriller novels, set in the small and rainy hamlet of Forks on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Despite its remoteness, the town has become a pilgrimage destination for readers from around the world.

National Book Awards Honor Matthiessen In Fiction

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:00:00 EST

The National Book Awards were given out Wednesday night in New York. The fiction award went to Peter Matthiessen's "Shadow Country," a revision of a trilogy of novels from the 1990s. The 81-year-old author last won a National Book Award 30 years ago.

Top Five Crime And Mystery Novels Of 2008

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:38:00 EST

To swipe the immortal lines uttered by Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, a great mystery should take "the lid off life and let [you] look at the works." Maureen Corrigan's picks for the top five crime novels of the year do just that.

'The End' Is Beginning For First-Time Novelist

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:04:00 EST

When a first-time novelist hears his work compared to Saul Bellow, Virginia Wolfe, William Faulkner, even James Joyce, it must be both gratifying, and daunting. Such is the case with Salvatore Scibona, whose novel The End is a finalist for the National Book Award.

'Slumdog Millionaire': Mumbai Jackpot

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:06:00 EST

Based on an Indian novel about a TV quiz show contestant from the Mumbai slums, Danny Boyle's film has already sparked Oscar talk. Critic Bob Mondello says that chatter is entirely justified. (Recommended)

Italian Crime Writers Make An International Splash

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:22:00 EST

Two new crime novels show Italy opening itself up and asserting itself as part of the wider world — even if its prime minister often seems lost in his provincial past.

A Multilingual Voyage, Buoyed By A 'Sea Of Poppies'

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:30:00 EST

Amitav Ghosh's sprawling historical novel is set on a former slave ship in 1838, and features a wildly diverse cast of characters and fluid, "beautifully made" sentences. Reviewer Alan Cheuse says Sea of Poppies is worth a passage.

Caste, Colonialism And A 'Sea Of Poppies'

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:45:00 EST

Amitav Ghosh's epic novel tells the stories of a disparate group of seafarers aboard a former slave ship that has been retrofitted for the opium trade and its human cargo.

A Look At A 'World Unseen': Pretty, If Unsurprising

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:36:00 EST

Two women risk everything when they go against the black-and-white rules of apartheid South Africa; Shamim Sarif directs this genteelly attractive adaptation of her own novel.

'Striped Pajamas': Genocide In His Backyard

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:00:00 EST

Adapted from John Boyne's novel, Mark Herman's movie is a Holocaust film for younger audiences. And though the naive perspective may work in print, Bob Mondello says it doesn't lend itself to the realities of film.

Mystery Novels, With A Southwestern Flair

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Author Tony Hillerman died Oct. 26 at the age of 83. He was best known for his mystery novels, which evoked the Najavo culture of the American Southwest. In this 1998 interview, Hillerman discusses writing and his attraction to Native American culture.

Kate Atkinson Returns, Looking For 'Good News'

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:18:00 EDT

In the author's third Jackson Brodie mystery, a train crash connects a tangle of characters and crimes. The novel explores the line between protectiveness and violent possessiveness.

The Language Of Economic Misfortune

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:13:00 EDT

The dizzying economic situation is giving rise to novel phrases and appropriate expressions. The financial news includes colorful language describing a pretty bleak situation. It's practically baked in the cake.

Updike's 'Witches' Return To Eastwick As 'Widows'

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:30:00 EDT

John Updike's once unstoppable magic sisters return to their former haunts in the sequel to his 1984 novel The Witches of Eastwick. Thirty years have passed, and The Widows of Eastwick are back in their seaside Rhode Island town coming to terms with their declining power and sexuality.

Toni Morrison Finds 'A Mercy' In Servitude

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:18:00 EDT

Nobel laureate Toni Morrison says she wanted to "remove race from slavery" in her new novel. Set in 17th century America, A Mercy features black, white and Native American characters in different degrees of servitude.

Jim Harrison's Quixotic, Erotic Road Novel

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:38:00 EDT

Who says road novels have to be about the young? The English Major follows a 60-something teacher as he sets off on a cross-country journey to mend a broken heart — and revive his libido.

Tony Hillerman: A Pioneering Tribal Mystery Writer

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:27:00 EDT

Set on Indian reservations in the Southwest, the author's 18 novels were evocative of a place and culture that had largely been ignored, and helped establish what is now known as the "tribal mystery" genre. Hillerman died Oct. 26 in New Mexico. He was 83 years old.

Toni Morrison: A Mother, A Stranger, 'A Mercy'

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:36:00 EDT

In this special, four-part reading, Toni Morrison presents a pivotal episode from her new novel, A Mercy. The book explores the repercussions of an enslaved mother's desperate act: she casts off her daughter to save her.

A Fiery Love Story, Unbound By Time

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 15:04:00 EDT

Everybody's had a feeling of being burned at the end of a relationship, but in Andrew Davidson's first novel, The Gargoyle, the flames come at the beginning of the love story, when the book's unlikable, unnamed narrator crashes his car while driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Book Explores Alternate World Of Deafness

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Deafness creates its own dialogues: between what was said, and what someone hears. In David Lodge's new novel, Deaf Sentence, a deaf man knows that as he mishears words and responds with non sequiturs, he becomes an object of fun.

Freud And Oedipus Converge In 'Three Roads'

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:19:00 EDT

Where Three Roads Meet, the new novel from British psychologist and fiction writer Sally Vickers, is set in the spring of 1923, and features an invented encounter between the ailing Sigmund Freud and a blind, ancient soothsayer.

Neil Gaiman's Ghostly Baby-Sitters Club

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:17:00 EDT

Neil Gaiman's new novel, The Graveyard Book, is the story of an orphan toddler adopted by dead people. Inspiration for the book came 23 years ago, says Gaiman, when he was watching his son ride a tricycle through a cemetery.

'W,' 'Bees' And 'Max Payne'

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Writer Mark Jordan Legan takes us through three new films: Oliver Stone's W starring Josh Brolin, the adaptation of the novel The Secret Life of Bees starring Queen Latifah and Dakota Fanning and the crime drama Max Payne starring Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and Beau Bridges.

Queen Latifah Buzzes About 'Secret Life Of Bees'

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:30:00 EDT

The Golden Globe-winning actress talks about racism, her fear of bees and playing the oldest sister on the set of The Secret Life Of Bees. The new film is adapted from Sue Monk Kidd's best-selling novel.

Earnest, Lovable Loser Yearns For 'Silver Linings'

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:59:00 EDT

Home from a long stay in a mental hospital, the hero in Matthew Quick's debut novel, The Silver Linings Playbook, embarks on a hapless campaign to win back his former wife.