Lynn Neary

Which March Sister Are You? The Latest 'Little Women' Makes It Hard To Decide

By Lynn Neary • Dec 25, 2019

If you grew up loving Little Women, as I did, there was one pretty much inviolable truth you lived with: Jo, the second oldest sister was the character everyone wanted to be. She's fun and smart and so determined to be independent and become a writer that she rejects a marriage offer from her best friend, Laurie, the rich boy from next door.

The Last Decade Has Been Tumultuous For The Publishing Industry

By Lynn Neary • Nov 26, 2019

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The decade now coming to a close was a tumultuous one for the publishing industry. NPR's Lynn Neary has been digging into her old reporting, and she found that as the decade opened, publishers and booksellers faced a digital revolution with trepidation.

You May Have To Wait To Borrow A New E-Book From The Library

By Lynn Neary • Nov 1, 2019

Libraries across the U.S. are furious with one of the country's big five publishing houses. As of Friday, Macmillan Publishers Ltd. is drastically restricting the sales of its e-books to libraries.

For the first eight weeks after an e-book goes on the market, a library system can buy only one copy. So if you are used to getting your books from a library and you are an e-book fan who has been eagerly awaiting Hillary Mantel's next book, The Mirror and the Light, for example, you may have a long wait when it comes out in March 2020.

New Barnes & Noble CEO Started His Career As An Independent Bookseller

By Lynn Neary • Oct 29, 2019

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Peter Handke, Olga Tokarczuk Win Nobel Prizes In Literature

By Lynn Neary & Rose Friedman • Oct 10, 2019

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Swedish Academy To Name 2 Nobel Laureates in Literature In 2019, After Missing 2018

By Lynn Neary • Oct 9, 2019

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Zadie Smith Has An Eclectic Mix Of Short Stories In 'Grand Union'

By Lynn Neary • Oct 5, 2019

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Renia Spiegel's Diary Survived The Holocaust. People Are Finally Reading It

By Lynn Neary • Sep 30, 2019

A young Jewish girl begins a diary just as World War II is about to break out in Europe. She records the details of her daily life, but more and more, the war takes over. Eventually, the diary comes to a heartbreaking end.

In this case, it is not the story of Anne Frank. This is Renia's Diary, a journal that spent decades stored away in a safe deposit box. Now it's being published with help from Renia's niece and sister.

'The Secrets We Kept' Imagines What CIA Secretaries Knew

By Lynn Neary • Sep 8, 2019

Lara Prescott can trace her interest in Dr. Zhivago back to the beginning — the very beginning — of her life. She's named after one of the main characters in Boris Pasternak's novel about a doomed love affair at the time of the Russian revolution. (Prescott's mother was a huge fan of the film adaptation.)

Amazon Critics Angry Over Accidental Early Release Of Margaret Atwood Novel

By Lynn Neary • Sep 6, 2019

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Victim Of Brock Turner Sexual Assault Reveals Her Identity

By Lynn Neary • Sep 4, 2019

In newspapers she was described as the "unconscious intoxicated woman." In the courtroom she was called Emily Doe. On Tuesday, she let the world know that her real name is Chanel Miller.

In 2015, Miller was attacked while unconscious after drinking too much at a fraternity party at Stanford University. Two young men on bicycles rescued her. Her attacker tried to run away but they chased him and held him down until the police arrived. Brock Turner, her attacker, was a student at Stanford and a swimming champion.

For Many Authors, Celebrity Book Clubs Are A Ticket To Success

By Lynn Neary • Sep 3, 2019

Discoverability. It's a word that people who market and sell books use when talking about one of their biggest challenges: With hundreds of thousands of titles released each year, how do readers find the books that publishers want them to buy?

Word of mouth is the old standby. Media interviews are a big help. Book clubs can go a long way to boosting sales. Put those all together and you get celebrity book clubs, which are increasingly seen as a ticket to success.

Téa Obreht's Latest Is Steeped In The Supernatural — Also, There Are Camels

By Lynn Neary • Aug 11, 2019

When writer Téa Obreht's first book came out in 2011, it got the kind of reaction that most debut novelists only dream of: The Tiger's Wife was both critically acclaimed and a best seller. It was nominated for the National Book Award and won the Orange Prize.

New Thriller 'The Chain' Has An Origin Almost As Exciting As Its Plot

By Lynn Neary • Jul 14, 2019

Writers, like all artists, are willing to give up a lot to keep doing what they love best. But sometimes, reality bites, and dreams have to be put aside in order to put food on the table. That's what happened to Adrian McKinty — but then, with a little help from some friends, he found a way to keep going. The result is his new book, The Chain.

A Cup Of Ambition And Endurance: '9 To 5' Unites Workers Across Decades

By Lynn Neary • Jul 11, 2019

This story is part of American Anthem, a yearlong series on songs that rouse, unite, celebrate and call to action. Find more at NPR.org/Anthem.

Joy Harjo Becomes The 1st Native American U.S. Poet Laureate

By Lynn Neary & Patrick Jarenwattananon • Jun 19, 2019

Poet, writer and musician Joy Harjo — a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation — often draws on Native American stories, languages and myths. But she says that she's not self-consciously trying to bring that material into her work. If anything, it's the other way around.

Tony Horwitz, Author and Pulitzer Prize Winner, Dies At 60

By Lynn Neary • May 28, 2019

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Now a moment to remember the writer Tony Horwitz. He died yesterday at the age of 60. Horwitz was best known for his historical nonfiction, including the bestselling "Confederates In The Attic." He began his writing career as a journalist.

LGBT Anthem: Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way'

By Lynn Neary • May 20, 2019

NOEL KING, HOST:

In 2017, during the Super Bowl halftime show, Lady Gaga did something extraordinary. She performed a song that had become the unofficial anthem of the LGBTQ community.

(SOUNDBITE OF SUPER BOWL LI TELECAST)

LADY GAGA: (Singing) No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgender life - I'm on the right track, baby. I was born to survive. No matter black, white or beige, chola or Orient made - right track, baby, I was born to be brave.

(CHEERING)

In 'Once More We Saw Stars,' Grief And Love Together

By Lynn Neary • May 14, 2019

Four years ago the unthinkable happened to Jayson Greene. His 2-year-old daughter, Greta, was visiting her grandmother. The two were sitting on a bench on New York's Upper West Side when a brick came loose from a nearby building. It struck Greta in the head, and she died three days later. Greene began keeping a journal, which turned into his new memoir, Once More We Saw Stars.

After Decades Of Comics, 'Cathy' Cartoonist Found Writing 'So Liberating'

By Lynn Neary • Apr 14, 2019

Cathy Guisewite, the creator of the "Cathy" comic strip, didn't really want the character to be named after her. People would think that "Cathy" was based on her own life, she reasoned, and ... they would be right. Or, at least, they wouldn't be wrong.

"Cathy was kind of my heart," Guisewite says. "Other stronger characters in the strip like Andrea were more my brain. But Cathy was kind of my heart, that was me."

Novel Material: Ann Beattie, Voice Of The Boomers, Turns Her Focus To Millennials

By Lynn Neary • Apr 6, 2019

Ann Beattie has been hailed as the voice of her generation, but she's never taken that distinction too seriously. Beattie's short stories began appearing in The New Yorker in the 1970s. In her latest book, A Wonderful Stroke of Luck, the voice of the boomer generation focuses on a new generation — the Millennials.

Beattie has published more than 20 books over the course of her career, both novels and short story collections. She says short stories come more easily to her. Novels, she admits, are "endlessly fascinating," but more of a struggle.

'Nobel Of The Heart' Is The Real Prize For Author Ngugi Wa Thiong'o

By Lynn Neary • Mar 12, 2019

Every year, when it's time to give out the Nobel Prize for Literature, British bookies lay odds on who might win. Every year, Kenyan writer Ngugi Wa Thiong'o is viewed as a contender.

His body of works includes novels, plays and essays. But the first thing he ever wrote was a short story, which is included in a new collection of stories that range from the 1960s to the present. It's called Minutes of Glory, and he thinks of it as a kind of "literary autobiography."

What 'The Heavens'? This Extraordinary New Book Feels Like 5 Novels In One

By Lynn Neary • Mar 2, 2019

Sandra Newman freely admits that her new novel, The Heavens, is almost impossible to describe. "I found that you can give about five different descriptions of it," she says, and all of them will be "equally true." She's essentially written five novels in one.

Lies Are Illegal In The 'Golden State' Of Ben Winters

By Lynn Neary • Feb 10, 2019

Imagine a world where lying is against the law. You might expect that any place that values truth so highly would be a utopia — but the world writer Ben Winters has created in Golden State is far from idyllic. And though it's set in the future, it's very much based on our current political moment.

Winters says he knows exactly when he started writing Golden State: The day following President Trump's inauguration. Specifically, it was after "the infamous incident of the inauguration crowd-size debate."

How 'Born This Way' Was Born: An LGBT Anthem's Pedigree

By Lynn Neary • Jan 30, 2019

This story is part of American Anthem, a yearlong series on songs that rouse, unite, celebrate and call to action. Find more at NPR.org/Anthem.

American Library Association Announces Caldecott And Newbery Medal Winners

By Lynn Neary • Jan 28, 2019

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

This morning, at its annual conference in Seattle, the American Library Association gave out its prizes for children's and young adult literature. Its awards include the prestigious Caldecott and Newbery medals. NPR's Lynn Neary reports.

Beloved Poet Mary Oliver, Who Believed Poetry 'Mustn't Be Fancy,' Dies At 83

By Lynn Neary • Jan 17, 2019

Much-loved poet Mary Oliver died Thursday of lymphoma, at her home in Florida. She was 83. Oliver won many awards for her poems, which often explore the link between nature and the spiritual world; she also won a legion of loyal readers who found both solace and joy in her work.

Encore: 'The Times They Are A-Changin" Still Speaks To Our Changing Times

By Lynn Neary • Dec 30, 2018

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

When thousands of young people descended on the National Mall earlier this year for the student-led March for Our Lives, singer Jennifer Hudson ended the event with an emotional rendition of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'"

The Demise Of 'Tin House'

By Lynn Neary • Dec 22, 2018

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This 'Broken Ornament' Led To Christmas Magic

By Lynn Neary • Dec 13, 2018

Some of the best stories begin at home — and in fact, that's where Tony DiTerlizzi got the idea for his latest book. The Caldecott Award-winning author and illustrator, perhaps best known for The Spiderwick Chronicles, is taking a big leap into the unknown with his first Christmas book, The Broken Ornament.

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