Books

John Cleese got his first big break in London's West End and as a script writer and performer on The Frost Report.

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Arts

'Comedy Is Extraordinarily Difficult': John Cleese On Being Funny

4:48pm January 04, 2015

by NPR Staff

John Cleese of Monty Python fame has written a memoir, So, Anyway ... , which brings him from boyhood in a quiet British town called Weston to the footlights of London and screens all over the world.

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In 'God Loves Haiti,' Clutching Memories When The Earth Moves

12:20pm January 04, 2015

In his debut novel, Haitian expat Dimitry Elias Legér uses the 2010 earthquake in Haiti as a backdrop to a love triangle. Leger tells NPR's Rachel Martin why he titled his new book God Loves Haiti.

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These 'Almost Famous Women' Won't Be Forgotten Again

12:07pm January 03, 2015

by NPR Staff

Megan Mayhew Bergman's new story collection focuses on the colorful tales of independent real-life, risk-taking women who've faded from the spotlight (or never cared for it in the first place).

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In 'Citizen,' Poet Strips Bare The Realities Of Everyday Racism

11:59am January 03, 2015

by NPR Staff

For her latest collection, Claudia Rankine mined her and her friends' encounters with racism. She says she wanted to talk about "what happens when we fail each other as people."

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Arts

For The New Year, Ray Bradbury's Buoyant Vision Of The Future

6:23pm January 02, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

We saw a lot of dystopias in both films and books this year. Author Jason Sheehan has had enough. He plans to celebrate the new year with some science fiction that's actually hopeful about the future.

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For Working Moms, Key To Balance May Lie In Elusive Leisure Time

4:12pm January 02, 2015

If waiting for help when your car breaks down doesn't strike you as a leisurely activity, it may be time to reconsider. A new book looks at time management challenges of being a working parent.

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Books

NPR Bestsellers: Week Of January 1, 2015

4:03pm January 02, 2015

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

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Fiction, Week Of January 1, 2015

4:03pm January 02, 2015

In The Narrow Road To The Deep North, Richard Flanagan tells the story of an Australian surgeon who becomes a World War II prisoner of war. It appears at No. 14.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of January 1, 2015

4:03pm January 02, 2015

Roz Chast celebrates the final years of her aging parents' lives in Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, which appears at No. 15.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Fiction, Week Of January 1, 2015

4:03pm January 02, 2015

Andy Weir's The Martian follows an astronaut who has been stranded on Mars. It appears at No. 3.