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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.

In his award-winning profile "The Confessions of Bob Greene," writer Bill Zehme chronicles the fall from grace of the former Chicago Tribune columnist. Zehme speaks with NPR's Jennifer Ludden in the second of a series of interviews with National Magazine Award Winners.

Turkish author Orhan Pamuk's Snow is an admittedly political novel. But while its subject matter touches upon everything from the European Union to Islamic fundamentalism, Snow has been praised for its indelible characters, its insistence on a basic humanity. NPR's Steve Inskeep spoke with Pamuk about his latest novel.

In March 2003, reporter Evan Wright was in central Iraq with Marines leading the charge toward Baghdad. He captured his experience in "The Killer Elite," this year's winner of the National Magazine Award for "Excellence in Reporting." NPR's Jennifer Ludden speaks with Wright.

The 20 finalists for the 2004 National Book Awards were announced today, and for the first time in the awards' 55-year history, all five of the fiction finalists are women. Greta Cunningham of Minnesota Public Radio reports.