Search results for

Reviewer Alan Cheuse offers his annual recommendations for holiday gift-giving. This year's list includes novels of travel on Earth and in space, new versions of tales from the Bible, Africa and Mesopotamia, and collections of poetry and song.

In the first of a series to help with the mad dash of holiday cooking, Alton Brown, host of The Food Network show '"Good Eats" and author of "I'm Just Here for More Food," offers some baking tips. He explains the secrets and science behind a perfect pie crust.

A new cookbook from food writer Marlena Spieler gives a makeover to the ultimate comfort food. With combinations like mozzarella, fig jam and prosciutto, and sage sausage with jack, Grilled Cheese: 50 Recipes to Make You Melt makes the classic sandwich even better. NPR's Jennifer Ludden joins Spieler in the kitchen.

Amos Oz's latest is A Tale Of Love And Darkness, a memoir of growing up in Jerusalem in the turbulent 1940s and '50s, when a war-torn Israel was achieving statehood. Oz's home life was as intense as the world outside. The book follows Oz through his mother's suicide to a growing interest in politics and writing.

Writer Suzan-Lori Parks has won acclaim for depictions of African-American life. The author of Topdog/Underdog discusses two of her favorite dramatic scenes, from The Sound of Music and Taxi Driver.

After a chart-topping and occasionally controversial music career, she s now turning out children s books publishing four in just over a year. The newest is The Adventures of Abdi. The others are The English Roses, Mr. Peabody's Apples and Yakov and the Seven Thieves. Her fifth, Lotsa de Casha, is due out in April 2005.

NPR's Melissa Block talks with Mark Bittman, author of "How to Cook Everything" and The New York Times food column "The Minimalist," about alternatives to the traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner. His suggestions range from leg of lamb to salmon.

Thanksgiving approaches, followed by the rest of the holiday season. In a holiday-eating preview, NPR's Susan Stamberg bypasses the turkey — and heads right for dessert. Specifically chocolate. But she does manage to insinuate her favorite holiday recipe into the mix.

More conservative federal judges and a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage top the agenda for President Bush's second term, according to a conservative author. NPR's Renee Montagne speaks to Richard Viguerie, co-author of America's Right Turn.

Boston Celtics icon Red Auerbach is full of stories. Now retired, he still evokes moments that made legends out of Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird — and Auerbach himself. NPR's Steve Inskeep and Auerbach discuss a life in basketball.