Books

'Bad Paper' Explores The Underworld Of Debt Collection

11:47am October 11, 2014

In his new book, Jake Halpern looks at the industry, where having a criminal background is no barrier to entry. He explains debt buying and how little regulation gave rise to a chaotic marketplace.

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Arts

A Slow Simmer Of Grief And Strength In 'Nora Webster'

7:03am October 11, 2014

by Heller McAlpin

Colm Tóibín's new novel is set in his Irish home town in the early 1970s, and follows the titular Nora as she and her family struggle to cope with the loss of her beloved husband.

Books

Berlin Wears The Scars Of Its Past All Over

10:01pm October 10, 2014

Peter Schneider, author of the new book, "Berlin Now," tells Robert Siegel it will take another generation to unify in spirit what was divided by east and west for so long.

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For This Baseball Season, Roger Angell Has Just The 'Ticket'

6:43pm October 10, 2014

by Kate Tuttle

The American League Championship Series begins tonight. Writer Kate Tuttle says Roger Angell's 1988 collection of essays, Season Ticket, is the perfect accompaniment to the postseason.

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Arts

'You Can't Be This Furry' And Other Life Lessons From Gary Shteyngart

2:06pm October 10, 2014

In Little Failure, the novelist recounts his emigration from the USSR to the U.S. when he was 7. For the first few years, he says, he would sit alone in the cafeteria, talking to himself in Russian.

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"If she be worthy." A mysterious masked woman has taken up the hammer — and mantle — of Thor.

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Arts

Where's Thor When You Need Her? Women In Comics Fight An Uphill Battle

9:03am October 10, 2014

by Mallory Yu

The new female Thor has picked up her hammer, but the mainstream comics industry is still experiencing some growing pains as it figures out where women fit in as characters, creators and fans.

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Patrick Modiano, who's typically known for being media-shy, steps into the spotlight for a press conference in Paris following his Nobel win on Thursday.

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Arts

Book News: Get To Know Patrick Modiano, The Newly Minted Nobel Laureate

7:58am October 10, 2014

by Colin Dwyer

The French novelist may enjoy a vast audience in his own country, but for most English-only speakers, Modiano is still a mystery. Read a few profiles of the man — and excerpts of his actual writing.

Caitlin Doughty is the founder of The Order of the Good Death, a group of funeral industry professionals, academics and artists who focus on the rituals families perform with their dead.

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Arts

A Mortician Talks Openly About Death, And Wants You To, Too

4:58pm October 09, 2014

"You're never going to be completely comfortable with it," says mortician and author Caitlin Doughty. "But it's an important process." Smoke Gets In Your Eyes is her new memoir.

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Arts

Simple Sketches Of A Complicated Cure In 'The Hospital Suite'

11:34am October 09, 2014

by Etelka Lehoczky

Cartoonist John Porcellino details a decades-long health struggle in his new graphic memoir. Reviewer Etelka Lehoczky says Porcellino's spare art is a powerful way to engage with the topic of illness.

French writer Patrick Modiano's most recent novel is Pour que tu ne te perdes pas dans le quartier. Modiano is pictured in 2003.

Books
Arts

Literature Nobel Goes to French Novelist Patrick Modiano

9:52am October 09, 2014

by Colin Dwyer

The Swedish Academy lauded Modiano "for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation."