Mark Strand's Poetry Moved Easily From Common To Sublime
Poet laureate Mark Strand has died at age 80. He spurned conventional form and wrote spare and haunting prose, which won him the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1999.
Books
An Aging Rake, An Ingenue, And A Strapping Young Painter In 'Tristana'
NYRB Classics has just reissued Tristana, an 1892 novel by the great Spanish author Benito Pérez Galdós. Critic Juan Vidal says Tristana's intelligence and emotional richness is comparable to Dickens.
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Mark Strand Dies At 80
The Canadian-born poet was known for his wit and introspection. He also won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and Yale University's Bollingen Prize.
Chicken Confidential: How This Bird Came To Rule The Cultural Roost
Andrew Lawler's Why Did the Chicken Cross the World? explores the secret to the domesticated bird's success: "You can turn the chicken into almost anything," he says, from religious symbol to dinner.
The Mystery Of The Missing Brains
For decades, a rare collection of human remains sat in a basement closet at the University of Texas. A new book tells the story of that collection — and the enduring mysteries that surround it.
After The Ferguson Decision, A Poem That Gives Name To The Hurt
This week, a Missouri grand jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson, the officer who killed Michael Brown. Writer Syreeta McFadden turns to Audre Lorde's poetry to make sense of this decision.
'Queen Of Crime' PD James Was A Master Of Her Craft
A remembrance of murder mystery writer PD James, who died Thursday at her home in Oxford, England.
For P.D. James, A Good Mystery Celebrated Human Intelligence
The British author of best-selling detective stories has died at age 94. "In a sense, the detective story is a small celebration of reason and order in our very disorderly world," she told NPR.
British Mystery Novelist P.D. James Dies At 94
The author of such books as The Black Tower was best-known for her series featuring Scotland Yard detective Adam Dalgliesh.
North-Of-The-Border Horror In 'Go Down Together'
Cold, dark winter nights are the perfect time to dip into Gemma Files' chilling new story collection, We Will All Go Down Together. Critic Jason Heller praises Files' "ghostly, magical storytelling."