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Prime Minister Loses His Noggin But Keeps Talking In 'Head Of State'

11:05pm January 31, 2015

Who says a beheaded man can't still be head of state? NPR's Scott Simon speaks with British journalist, author and TV host Andrew Marr about his novel, Head of State.

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Impressions From The Ice: A Poet Returns From Antarctica

6:30pm January 31, 2015

by NPR Staff

Jynne Dilling Martin spent six weeks living on the bottom of the world and watching scientists work. The experience inspired many of the poems in her new collection, We Mammals in Hospitable Times.

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Joyce Carol Oates Wades Into Troubled Waters With 'The Sacrifice'

1:23pm January 31, 2015

by Alan Cheuse

Based on the real-life story of Tawana Brawley (and Al Sharpton), The Sacrifice depicts the fractures in a fictional New Jersey town after a young black girl accuses white cops of assaulting her.

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Colleen McCullough at home on Australia's remote Norfolk Island in 1990 — she told an interviewer she moved there to escape her difficult family.

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Remembering 'Thorn Birds' Author Colleen McCullough

1:20pm January 31, 2015

by Lynn Neary

Australian writer Colleen McCullough has died at 77; she was best known for her doomed Outback romance saga The Thorn Birds, famously adapted for TV with Richard Chamberlain as a passionate priest.

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A Mismatched Crew Dreams Of Swashbuckling In 'We Are Pirates'

1:20pm January 31, 2015

Acclaimed writer Daniel Handler, a.k.a. Lemony Snickett, drew criticism last year for a racist comment at a literary event. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Handler about his new novel, We Are Pirates.

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Rod McKuen, The Cheeseburger To Poetry's Haute Cuisine

1:14pm January 31, 2015

by Scott Simon

Poet Rod McKuen was loved by millions but mocked by literary critics. He died this week at age 81.

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Why A Black Man's Murder Often Goes Unpunished In Los Angeles

7:51pm January 30, 2015

by NPR Staff

From witnesses to reluctant gang members, Jill Leovy says, "everybody's terrified." Her book, Ghettoside, uses the story of one murder to explore the city's low arrest rate when black men are killed.

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Books

NPR Bestsellers: Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

The lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Fiction, Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

In Lily King's Euphoria, three young anthropologists in 1930s New Guinea are caught in a love triangle. It debuts at No. 13.

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NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

Debuting at No. 14, Diane Muldrow's Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned From a Little Golden Book offers insights on the world of romance.