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Books

Bio Credits Manson's Terrible Rise To Right Place And Time

3:31pm March 12, 2015

California parolee Charles Manson arrived in San Francisco in 1967, when the city was full of young seeking a guru. In Manson, Jeff Guinn says it was the perfect spot for him to enact his cult vision.

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'B & Me' Is Intelligent, Immoderate, And A Bit Belabored

5:18pm March 11, 2015

by Heller McAlpin

J.C. Hallman's audacious account of his engagement with the erotic writing of Nicholson Baker makes a splash, but critic Heller McAlpin says the book sometimes runs aground in self-indulgence.

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In 'Shadow,' Change And Growth As A Story Sheds Its Scales

4:10pm March 11, 2015

by Amal El-Mohtar

Rachel Hartman continues her tale of half-dragon musician and unwilling diplomat Seraphina in Shadow Scale. Reviewer Amal El-Mohtar says the new book doesn't just live up to the old, it outgrows it.

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A Writer Moves To 'Bettyville' To Care For His Elderly Mom

1:27pm March 11, 2015

In 2011, George Hodgman visited his mother Betty for her 91st birthday in Paris, Missouri. When he saw she needed care, he left Manhattan to live with her. But she still hasn't accepted that he's gay.

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Star Wars Lords Of The Sith will feature the first official LGBT character.

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Coming Out In A Galaxy Far Far Away: Star Wars Gets Its First LGBT Character

1:17pm March 11, 2015

by Jasmine Garsd

Star Wars has had a complicated relationship with LGBT issues in the past. A new character, Moff Mors, might change that.

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Shockwaves Of A Kidnapping Echo In 'Barefoot Dogs'

5:07pm March 10, 2015

Alan Cheuse reviews Antonio Ruiz-Camacho's first book, a collection of interwoven short stories called, Barefoot Dogs. He's a Mexican-born writer who spent much of his career as a reporter.

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From The Gathering Of Juggalos To Farthest Australia In 'Timid Son'

12:41pm March 10, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Kent Russell (brother of Swamplandia! author Karen) makes a striking debut with a collection of essays that double as memoir. Critic Michael Schaub calls the book tough, tender and deeply original.

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Straight To Audiobook: Authors Write Original Works Meant To Be Heard

12:37pm March 10, 2015

by Lynn Neary

Writer Philip Pullman says it's all part of the oral tradition: "Long before writing, people were telling each other stories," he says. Audiobook technology has come a long way since the early days.

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A Tale Of Two Captains On A Tragic Journey In 'Dead Wake'

11:11am March 10, 2015

by Jean Zimmerman

Erik Larson's new book about the sinking of the liner Lusitania by a German U-boat in 1915 brings the past stingingly alive. Reviewer Jean Zimmerman calls Dead Wake "thrilling, dramatic and powerful."

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Forget Big Sky And Cowboys: 'Crow Fair' Is Set In An Unidealized Montana

8:07pm March 09, 2015

by NPR Staff

"I think there's only one interesting story ... and that's struggle," says writer Thomas McGuane. Loners, outcasts and malcontents fill the pages of his new short story collection Crow Fair.

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