Reverbiage: Stories from NPR tagged 'novelist'

'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.

These United States: Pop's Particle Accelerator

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 09:55:00 EST

The Washington, D.C., band These United States writes novelistic songs packed with dense narratives and loose, ragged-edged folk, rock and Americana. While Jesse Elliott is the main creative foundation, the group is known to rotate in any number of musicians it picks up. The band discusses and performs songs from its new album, Crimes.

The Airborne Toxic Event: Literate Dance-Rock

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:19:00 EDT

Spurred by a string of bad news in his personal life, novelist Mikel Jollett turned to writing songs instead of prose for relief. Within months, The Airborne Toxic Event was born. The L.A. band shakes up standard rock with a viola and trumpet in this session from WXPN.

A Furious Voice, Forged In The 'Fire' Of Prejudice

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:03:00 EDT

Jamaican-American novelist Michelle Cliff's essays — urgent, stripped of lyrical excess, discomfiting but illuminating — bear witness to a rough life that has shaped a radical, powerful and essential artist.

French Novelist Awarded Nobel Literature Prize

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EDT

French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio has been awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize for literature. Antoine Compagnon, a professor of French Literature at Columbia University, offers his insight about the writer and his work.

French Novelist Wins Nobel Prize In Literature

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:29:00 EDT

The Swedish Academy announced Thursday that Jean-Maria Gustave Le Clezio won the 2008 Nobel Prize in literature. The acadmy praised Le Clezio for his adventurous novels, essays and children's literature.

A Novelist's Hardboiled Take On Big Sky Country

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:53:00 EDT

Crime novelist James Crumley's detective tales were filled with sex, drugs, violence and profanity, and inspired comparisons to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, among others. Crumley died Sept. 17 in Missoula, Mont. He was 68.

Parting Words: On Autumn

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:54:00 EDT

Host Andrea Seabrook offers parting words from novelist George Eliot: "Delicious autumn. My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the Earth seeking successive autumns"

'Infinite Jest' Author David Foster Wallace

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:51:00 EDT

The novelist and essayist was found dead in his home Sept. 12, reportedly a suicide. Fresh Air remembers him with an interview first aired in 1997, the year he won the MacArthur Foundation's "genius" grant.

Novelist Kureishi Has 'Something To Tell You'

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Hanif Kureishi is one of England's best-known novelists and screenwriters. Race and sex and cultural divides in London have always been Kureishi's territory, and they still are. In his latest novel, Something To Tell You, the characters are older, their sexual foibles darker — and the narrator is a psychologist named Jamal Khan — a man who has a lot of guilt.

Amy Tan: Novelist Turned Librettist

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:01:00 EDT

The novelist has turned The Bonesetter's Daughter into an opera, which has its premiere at the San Francisco Opera on Saturday. Transforming the book into a libretto wasn't easy for Tan, nor was resurfacing the painful stories of her family's past.

Auster's New Book Shines

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Man In The Dark is novelist Paul Auster's latest book. The Brooklyn fiction writer, essayist and screenwriter has published more than a dozen novels. His latest adds to his highly praised body of work.

Novelist, Songwriter Say 'You Are All My People'

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:27:00 EDT

Jonathan Lethem and Walter Salas-Humara sat down to write an album in 48 hours. Rock critic Ken Tucker has some thoughts about the result.

Novelist Found Inspiration In New Jersey

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Jacqueline Care talks about her new novel, It's a Crime. The novelist found inspiration in affluent New Jersey suburbs, just outside of Manhattan, and in the white-collar crimes of corporate CEOs.

Parting Words: Saul Bellow

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:36:00 EDT

Host Andrea Seabrook shares parting words from novelist Saul Bellow: "Any artist should be grateful for a naïve grace which puts him beyond the need to reason elaborately."

Novelist Highlights The Rich Flavor Of Old Istanbul

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

For historian-turned-mystery-writer Jason Goodwin, the bustling Istanbul bazaar is a perfect setting for murder, and the evening call to prayer is "a good time to kick a man to death in the street."

Hard Copy: Reporter Pens Killer Newsroom Novel

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:11:00 EDT

As a journalist, John Darnton spent 40 years at The New York Times. As a novelist, he writes colorful mysteries. His newest murder yarn, set in a big-city newsroom that seems awfully familiar: Black and White and Dead All Over.

Virginia Woolf, At Intersection Of Science And Art

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:22:00 EDT

Virginia Woolf wanted to think about what it's like to think about nothing special, about ordinary things. Novelists, she said, should study life as it happens. That view suggests that while scientists probe and analyze questions, artists discover what questions to ask.

A Lofty Mystery: 'Madapple'

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Host Liane Hansen speaks with first-time novelist Christina Meldrum, a litigator and Harvard graduate. In Madapple, readers enter the household of an exceptionally disturbed family, where questions about faith and religion abound. (Knopf, ISBN-10: 0375851763)

Celebrating A Dutch Mystery Writer's Varied Life

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:48:00 EDT

Mystery novelist Janwillem Van de Wetering was once a motorcycle gang member in South Africa, an aspiring monk in Kyoto, Japan and a policeman in Amsterdam. The Dutch author of The Hollow-Eyed Angel, The Blond Baboon and The Maine Massacre died July 4 at age 77.

Chris And Don: True Love For Extraordinary Pair

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:31:00 EDT

Artist Don Bachardy was only a teenager when he met then-middle-aged novelist Chris Isherwood on a California beach, but the two successfully maintained a multi-decade romance that lasted until Isherwood's death in 1986. His relationship with Isherwood was the subject of the critically-acclaimed documentary Chris and Don: A Love Story.

Remembering Science Fiction Writer Thomas Disch

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:56:00 EDT

Author of new-wave sci-fi — and the much-loved children's story The Brave Little Toaster — took his life last week. Fresh Air remembers the novelist, poet and critic.

Chinese Authors Find Creative Outlets on the Web

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Chinese novelists were once encouraged to address politics and society through a Communist lens. Now young writers can be as entertaining as they want on the web.

Novelist Rivka Galchen's Book is All About Doubles

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:00:00 EDT

Psychiatrist Rivka Galchen's debut novel, Atmospheric Disturbances, is about a man who thinks his wife has been replaced by a fake.

'Slumberland' Offers High Ambitions, Low Comedy

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:30:00 EDT

There are very few novelists with Paul Beatty's swinging sense of play. His latest novel, Slumberland, is a sui generis piece of heartfelt absurdism. Troy Patterson recommends readers give it a spin.