Books and Literature

(06/28/11) Our webmaster Dale Hobson is also a poet. Betsy Kepes spoke with him about his new book of poetry, A Drop of Ink. The book includes four illustrations reproduced from original wood engravings by Clayton artist Greg Lago.

(06/22/11) The Scotiabank Giller Prize is Canada's premiere award for fiction written in English. This year's winning novel is set in a small Ontario town along the St. Lawrence Seaway. Betsy Kepes has this review of The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud.

(06/07/11) A fun new book presents 34 men who proudly take charge of the family kitchen.
It's called A Man With a Pan, with the subtitle Culinary Adventures of Fathers Who Cook for Their Families.

According to the publisher's press release, fathers now account for nearly a third of family-cooking time. That's up from 5% in 1965.

The book is edited by John Donohue of the New Yorker magazine. He does most of the cooking for his own family, his wife and two daughters.

There are big names among his 34 contributors: chefs Mark Bittman and Mario Batali, as well as authors Stephen King, Jim Harrison and Mark Kurlansky. But the book also includes interviews with lower profile guys, regular fathers across the country.

Brett Thacher, a cooking Dad from Canton, is one of them. He was in the NCPR studios this morning to talk with Martha Foley.

(06/07/11) Our guest is Dr. Curt Stager of the Paul Smith's College faculty, co-host of NCPR's Natural Selections, and author of Deep Future: The Next 100,000 Years of Life on Earth. Drawing upon the latest works of a handful of climate visionaries, the book explores the possibilities for next hundred millennia of life on Earth. Ellen Rocco and Chris Robinson host.

(06/02/11) This week, we've been looking at outdoor education in the North Country, from the revival of the visitor interpretation centers in Newcomb and Paul Smiths to the effort to get more kids into the woods.

Last year, Brian Mann attended a conference looking at how nature writing shapes our culture and influences the national debate over environmental issues. He found that some of the country's top nature writers wonder whether their work can still make a difference. (Brian Mann's story first aired in August 2010.)

(05/31/11) Eric Siblin worked as a journalist in Kingston, Ontario then wrote pop music reviews for a Montreal newspaper. One evening, he happened upon a recital for solo cello. He details his amazement and new obsession in his new book, The Cello Suites -- J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece. Betsy Kepes has this review.

(05/24/11) Todd Moe talks with the authors of a new book about the history of Old Forge. Linda Cohen and Peg Masters, both descendants of pioneers of the Old Forge region, are co-authors of, "Old Forge and the Fulton Chain of Lakes", the latest book in the Arcadia series of local history picture books.

(05/11/11) In 1990, an elderly dairy farmer in central New York was accused of killing his brother. Best-selling author Jon Clinch uses the real story as the basis for his novel, Kings of the Earth. Our book reviewer, Betsy Kepes, talked to Clinch about his new book.

(04/27/11) Our guest, Peter Selgin, is the 2010-11 SLU Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing. His 2007 collection, Drowning Lessons, won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Fiction. Longer fiction includes the novel Life Goes to the Movies. Ellen Rocco and Chris Robinson host.

(04/06/11) Kathleen Winter's first novel, Annabel, was a finalist for Canada's prestigious Giller Prize. Set in Labrador, the book imagines an intersex child growing up in a remote northern village. Our book critic, Betsy Kepes, has this review. more