Search results for

Dana I. Wolff's new novel digs up the story of infamous disease vector "Typhoid Mary" Mallon — it's a fun, fast read, but misses a rich opportunity to draw parallels to modern pandemic scares.

Pakistan's Election Commission appears to have cleared the way for President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to seek another term while serving as army chief. However, legal challenges against the president are mounting.

In addition to the new butter sculpture, a new attraction at the 168th Ohio State Fair this year includes free admission to the Ohio History Center.

NPR illustrator Angela Hsieh sketches Tiny Desk shows as they happen, capturing the musicians at a specific moment in time. Highlights include Yo-Yo Ma, the Wu-Tang Clan and Florence + The Machine.

In Saturday Night Live writer Simon Rich's latest novel, What in God's Name, God plans to do away with people so he can focus on opening a restaurant in heaven. An angel makes him a bet that if he can bring two shy, lovelorn humans together, God must spare humanity.

To Kill a Mockingbird and Valley of the Dolls have more in common than you think. In his new book Hit Lit, mystery writer James Hall argues that best-sellers from the past century share 12 features.

A new biography of the Prophet Muhammad attempts to find the real man inside the mythology. Reviewer Drew Toal says the book describes the prophet as "a mostly reasonable, marginalized man beset by extraordinary circumstances."

When a psychic tells her that her biological father is still alive, Portland, Ore., comic-book artist Nicole Georges begins a quest of self discovery. Critic Carmen Gimenez Smith calls Georges' graphic memoir "a beautiful and innovative portrait" of an artist's journey.

Czech-born artist Peter Sis makes a case for the printed page with a gorgeously illustrated retelling of a 12th century Sufi poem. In The Conference of the Birds, Sis crafts a richly inked parable of a flight of birds that speaks to the painful but beautiful human journey toward understanding.

This week brings mystery writer P.D. James' homage to Jane Austen, a comic novel from Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel, a mountain climbing disaster story from Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan, and Mimi Alford's tale of her affair with President John F. Kennedy.