Books

Ann Goldstein is an editor at The New Yorker. She says she tries to stick to the text when she translates. "You're not trying to write your own version of it," she says.

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Translator Behind Elena Ferrante Novels Says Her Job Is To Be An 'Enabler'

11:02am February 20, 2016

by NPR Staff

Ann Goldstein is the translator for the mysterious novelist's popular Neapolitan series. She says her role is to "enable someone to express him or herself as much as he or she possibly can."

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Harper Lee Remembered As Reclusive

8:25am February 20, 2016

Linda Wertheimer talks to Harper Lee's longtime friend Wayne Flynt about the late author. He will deliver Lee's eulogy.

Italian writer Umberto Eco attends an event at the Paris Book Fair on March 30, 2010.

Italian Author And Philosopher Umberto Eco Dead At 84

9:24pm February 19, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

Internationally acclaimed Italian author Umberto Eco has died, according to his American publisher. He was 84. He launched his career as a novelist with The Name of the Rose in 1980.

Pulitzer Prize winner and To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee smiles before receiving the 2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House.

Harper Lee, Author Of 'To Kill A Mockingbird,' Dies At Age 89

6:47pm February 19, 2016

by Bill Chappell

The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer died in her hometown of Monroeville, Ala. Published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird has sold tens of millions of copies and been translated into dozens of languages.

Lee (center) attends a Los Angeles Public Library Awards Dinner in her honor at The Richard J. Riordan Central Library Maguire Gardens in 2005.

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The Measure Of Harper Lee: A Life Shaped By A Towering Text

6:05pm February 19, 2016

The author, who died Friday at 89, lived for decades in the shadow of her iconic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Yet there was more to Lee than her characters, however beloved they may remain.

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Harper Lee in a courthouse near her hometown of Monroeville, Ala.

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Small Batch: 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

5:53pm February 19, 2016

by Linda Holmes

We talk with Barrie Hardymon of NPR's Weekend Edition about the book that was, for most of her life, Harper Lee's only published novel.

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Harper Lee's Depiction of 'Polarization In A Southern Town' Defines Legacy

4:59pm February 19, 2016

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Lizzie Skurnick, cultural critic of Harper Lee's books, about what she will be most remembered for.

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'How To Be A Tudor': Not As Stinky As You Think

12:20pm February 18, 2016

by Genevieve Valentine

Ruth Goodman — adviser to BBC productions like Wolf Hall — digs deep into the everyday life of Tudor England in her new book. Surprisingly, Elizabethan hygiene isn't as bad as you might think.

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Arts

Lies We Tell Ourselves Propel 'The Widow'

10:00am February 18, 2016

by Bethanne Patrick

Veteran reporter Fiona Barton brings a journalist's eye to her fiction debut, the story of a woman thrust into the spotlight after her husband — accused of a terrible crime — dies in an accident.

Books
Arts

'Furnace' Burns With Horror And Wonder

6:43pm February 17, 2016

by Jason Heller

Livia Llewellyn's new story collection is beautiful and hideous in the same breath, steeped in the traditions of H.P. Lovecraft. Critic Jason Heller calls it "bursting with blood and shadow and dust."