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Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho is a household name in most parts of the world. His new novel, Eleven Minutes, was a global best seller last year -- everywhere but the United States. Now Coelho is setting his sights on the American literary market, which remains stubbornly indifferent to foreign best sellers. NPR's Martin Kaste reports.

In the latest episode of the series "What Are You Listening To?" California teenager Lexi Sanborn helps us travel to distant lands, picking eclectic music from Japan and Germany.

The latest romance in Hollywood is between filmmakers and Los Angeles public schools. Location scouts say school campuses are among their favorite settings for movies, TV shows, music videos and commercials. And schools strapped for cash are grateful for their lucrative cameos. NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports.

The new documentary Mayor of the Sunset Strip looks at the life of Los Angeles disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer, who helped introduce such artists as David Bowie, the Sex Pistols and Nirvana. Director George Hickenlooper considers his subject the personification of America's obsession with fame. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.

Country legend Loretta Lynn joins forces with rocker Jack White for a soulful new CD, Van Lear Rose. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and Lynn.

Washington Post columnist Mary McGrory dies at age 85 after a long illness. McGrory won a Pulitzer Prize for her commentary during the Watergate scandal. Hear NPR's Bob Edwrds and Post columnist David Broder.

Alan Cheuse reviews All That is Gone by Pramoedya Ananta Toer, translated by Willem Samuels, a collection of short fiction dramatizing aspects of 20th century Indonesia that only remain in memory. Published by Hyperion, February 2004.

New Orleans, where roughly one-third of residents can barely read, has become the latest of several U.S. cities to use the book A Lesson Before Dying in a campaign to fight illiteracy and promote reading. Set in 1948, the novel addresses literacy, poverty and race relations in the segregated South. NPR's Bob Edwards speaks with author Ernest Gaines.

Adrienne Young is a Nashville musician who makes old-fashioned songs sound new. From sparse banjo to traditional country-band backing, her brand of folk music is winning fans across generations. NPR's Melissa Block talks with Young about her debut album, Plow to the End of the Row.

June Lockhart was a TV staple in the 1950s and '60s, playing Timmy's mom on Lassie and Maureen Robinson on Lost in Space. The actress, who recently helped open a lunchbox exhibit at the Smithsonian, takes a fun look back at those shows — and describes more recent interests: NASA and C-SPAN.