Books

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was our last truly great president, according to scholar Aaron David Miller.

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Arts

Historian: FDR Was The Last Great President. Let's Never Have Another

2:17pm October 07, 2014

by NPR Staff

In his new book, The End of Greatness, historian Aaron David Miller argues that the nation might be better off without any more truly great presidents — or the national crises that produce them.

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Alex Sharp stars as 15-year-old Christopher in the theater adaptation of Mark Haddon's 2003 novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

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The Unadaptable 'Curious Incident' Gets A Stage Adaptation

12:37pm October 07, 2014

by Jeff Lunden

Author Mark Haddon never imagined The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time would work as a play — he judged his writing by its unadaptability. But now it is one, and critics are loving it.

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Books

Bestsellers week of October 2, 2014

12:26pm October 07, 2014

by Tom Dollenmayer

The NPR Bestseller Lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 indepe

Leon Panetta says he and other top national security advisers to the president argued to keep some U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq after 2011.

Panetta: Fight Against Terrorism Will Be A Long, Sustained War

12:04pm October 07, 2014

In a new memoir, Leon Panetta says he and other presidential advisers argued to leave some U.S. forces in Iraq after 2011. That might have left Iraq in better position to fight ISIS, he tells NPR.

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'Ancillary Sword' Examines Life On The Fringes Of A Galactic Empire

11:23am October 07, 2014

by Genevieve Valentine

Ann Leckie's eagerly awaited sequel to last year's Ancillary Justice quickly wraps up dangling plot threads, and sends heroine Breq on a brand new adventure, this time at the helm of her own ship.

Security Lapses Trigger Questions About What Secret Service Agents Do

7:36am October 07, 2014

The lapses by the elite presidential detail shined a spotlight on the agency. What does an agent do in a day? To find out, Rachel Martin talks to ex-agent Dan Emmett, author of Within Arms Length.

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Agatha Christie, seen here in 1946, removes a book from the shelf at Greenway House, the home from which Jennifer Grant bought the trunk six decades later at an estate sale.

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Book News: Agatha Christie And The Secret Of The Lost Lockbox Jewels

7:28am October 07, 2014

by Colin Dwyer

Long hidden in a common trunk, Christie's family jewelry is now heading to auction. And the day's secrets don't end there: J.K. Rowling also stirred Twitter with a cryptic hint about her new book.

Marlon James' previous books include The Book of Night Women and John Crow's Devil.

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Arts

A 'Post-Post-Colonial' Take On The Violent Birth Of Modern Jamaica

2:22pm October 06, 2014

by NPR Staff

Marlon James' latest novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, is not brief, and it contains many more than seven deaths. It's a portrait of Jamaica in the '70s, when gang warfare and reggae reigned.

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Haruki Murakami's latest novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, was released in English in 2014.

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Book News: Murakami Drops A New Story, Just As Nobel Week Begins

7:13am October 06, 2014

by Colin Dwyer

In "Scheherazade," he tells the tale of a captive listener — in more ways than one. Also: A big week to come includes the Nobel Prize announcement, "Super Thursday" and several notable books.

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Arts

This 'Book Of Witches' Casts A Fascinating, Sobering Spell

9:33pm October 05, 2014

by Genevieve Valentine

A new Penguin compendium of documents relating to three centuries of witch trials lays the blame on fractured communities and cruel governments — and draws unsettling parallels to current events.