Maureen Corrigan

Maureen Corrigan appears in the following:

'Friendship': A Startlingly Nice Novel By A Tough-Girl Blogger

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

Emily Gould's first novel stars 30-something single women in New York City who are figuring out what's important in life. It's worth picking up for its sharp social observations and inspired wordplay.

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'Most Dangerous Book': A Rich Treasury Charting James Joyce's 'Ulysses'

Thursday, June 26, 2014

There are many heroes in Kevin Birmingham's new book about the novel that sparked a revolution, but James Joyce isn't one of them. The strength of The Most Dangerous Book lies in its subtle details.

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'Rise And Fall' Carries On Vagabond Adventure Tale Tradition

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

The Rise and Fall of Great Powers — the latest from Imperfectionists author Tom Rachman — follows the travels of a young bookstore proprietor. It's a "strange" book that requires a bit of patience.

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A Second Posthumous Collection From Rock Critic Ellen Willis

Thursday, May 22, 2014

The Essential Ellen Willis focuses on the writer's explicitly feminist culture criticism. It was edited by Willis' daughter, who published an earlier collection of her mother's essays in 2011.

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'Chameleon' Has Cabaret, Spies And A Plot Fit For Lifetime

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Francine Prose's latest novel was inspired by a 1932 photo of two lesbians, one of whom was in the Gestapo. Critic Maureen Corrigan says it's an ingenious excursion into the Parisian demimonde.

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In 'Hotel Florida,' Three Couples Chronicle The Spanish Civil War

Monday, May 05, 2014

Biographer Amanda Vaill's new book delves deeply into the lives of journalists like Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, whose documenting of the war helped shape public perception.

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'Bintel Brief' And 'Hellfighters': American Stories, Powerfully Illustrated

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Critic Maureen Corrigan recommends two graphic novels — one about a Yiddish advice column in the early 1900s and another about a regiment of African-American soldiers who fought during World War I.

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This Tightly Choreographed Tale Of Ambition And Ballet Will 'Astonish'

Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Maggie Shipstead tells the story of a disciplined dancer who can't make it into the spotlight. Critic Maureen Corrigan says Shipstead is "Edith Wharton with a millennial generation edge."

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'Thief' Delivers An Unfiltered Depiction Of Life In Lagos

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Teju Cole's latest book describes a young New York doctor's visit back to his Nigerian hometown, where he encounters a Clockwork Orange world of misery and corruption.

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What U.S. Learned From 'Heathen School' Wasn't Part Of The Lesson Plan

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The 19th century Connecticut school sought to convert young men from Hawaii, China, India and the Native American nations and then send them home as Christian missionaries. It did not go as planned.

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'Schmuck' Revisits The Golden Age Of Radio, And A Bygone Manhattan

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Ross Klavan's novel follows two radio sidekicks in midcentury New York: golden-voiced straight man Ted Fox, who has an eye for a good-looking dame, and funnyman Jerry Elkin, a veteran of World War II.

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These Stories Consider Solitude, With Echoes Of Emily Dickinson

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

It's been 15 years since acclaimed writer Lorrie Moore has brought out a new short story collection. Bark has some clunkers and some keepers, but critic Maureen Corrigan says it was worth the wait.

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Don't Know What To Do With Your Life? Neither Did Thoreau

Monday, February 17, 2014

A new biography reveals that young Thoreau took quite a few detours on his path to Walden. A gossipy young man who loved eating popcorn, ice skating and listening to his music box, sc...

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Triumph Of The Bookworms: Two Novels To Cure Your Winter Blues

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Alena, a reworking of Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca, takes place in the contemporary art world, while The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles is a "delicious French romp." Critic Maureen Corrigan ...

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Midwestern Memoir Tracks 'Flyover Lives' Of Author's Forebears

Friday, January 31, 2014

Diane Johnson often writes about American heroines living in France, but when she began her memoir, she found herself drawn back to her native ground in America's heartland. Critic Ma...

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On This Spanish Slave Ship, Nothing Was As It Seemed

Monday, January 27, 2014

In The Empire of Necessity, historian Greg Grandin tells the story of a slave revolt at sea. The 1805 event inspired Herman Melville's Benito Cereno, and Grandin's account of the huma...

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Empty Nester In 'The Woods': A Modern Dantean Journey

Thursday, January 09, 2014

When writer Lynn Darling found herself at a turning point in her life, she sought solitude and enlightenment in the woods of Vermont. Her new memoir, Out Of The Woods, describes that ...

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A Critic Tours 'Echo Spring,' Home Of Beloved Boozy Writers

Friday, January 03, 2014

A new book by critic Olivia Laing explores the link between alcohol and writing through the commentaries of famous writers who were themselves alcoholics. Fresh Air's Maureen Corrigan...

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Need A Read? Here Are Maureen Corrigan's Favorite Books Of 2013

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Fresh Air's book critic says it's just a fluke that 9 of the 11 titles she picked this year were written by female authors. Her favorites include a jumbo-sized Dickensian novel, a bio...

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Thanksgivukkah Stress Getting You Down? Here's A Literary Escape Plan

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Mark your calendars: According to some scholars, the next time it might happen is the year 79,811. I'm talking, of course, about the hybrid holiday of Thanksgivukkah, a melding of Thanksgiving and the Jewish Festival of Lights. The Borsch Belt-style Pilgrim jokes and mishmash recipes (turkey brined in Manischewitz, anyone?) ...

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