Malla Nunn
A brief but revealing Q&A with Malla Nunn, author of A Beautiful Place to Die, the first in a new series set in 1950s South Africa starring Detective Emmanuel Cooper.
Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo and Yoko Tanaka, the illustrator of The Magician's Elephant, discuss the writing and illustrating of the book. In a separate Q&A, Kate discusses The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.
Brigid Pasulka
Brigid Pasulka explains why she wrote her first novel, A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True, which is set in Poland during World War II, and in Kraków 50 years later.
Girl, Interrupted: Summary and book reviews of Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, plus links to an excerpt from Girl, Interrupted and a biography of Susanna Kaysen.
Girl, Interrupted
by
Susanna Kaysen
Paperback: Apr 1994,
168 pages.
First published in 1994. Reprinted and a bestseller in 2000 (due to movie based on the book).
In the late 1960s, the author spent nearly two years on the ward for teenage girls at McLean Hospital, a renowned psychiatric facility. Her memoir encompasses horror and razor-edged perceptions, while providing vivid portraits of her fellow patients and their keepers.
"Searing . . . captures an exquisite range of self-awareness between madness and insight."--Boston Globe.
Book Reviews
Library Journal
This is a powerful and moving account of the 17 months Kaysen spent on a ward for teenage girls at McLean Psychiatric Hospital.... This is a well-written account of one woman's journey into madness and back.
Kirkus Reviews
When Kaysen was 18, in 1967, she was admitted to McLean Psychiatric Hospital outside Boston, where she would spend the next 18 months. Now, 25 years and two novels (Far Afield, 1990; Asa, As I Knew Him, 1987) later, she has come to terms with the experience - as detailed in this searing account. ...... Every word counts in this brave, funny, moving reconstruction. For Kaysen, writing well has been the best revenge.
A spellbinding novel that spans the Victorian era through the World War I years, and centers around a famous children's book author and the passions, betrayals, and secrets that tear apart the people she loves.
A novel on the anxiety and disconnection of post-9/11 America, on the insidiousness of racism, the blind-sidedness of war, and the recklessness thrust on others in the name of love.
Jeannette Walls's memoir The Glass Castle was "nothing short of spectacular" (Entertainment Weekly). Now, in Half Broke Horses, she brings us the story of her grandmother, told in a first-person voice that is authentic, irresistible, and triumphant.
A gripping and fascinating adventure of one young girl's obsession with knowing who her parents really were/are. The delving into the idea of ...
read more
I borrowed Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell from the library, hoping it would be a lively story of two feuding wizards. Instead, the author spends ...
read more
Borders to close 200 Waldenbooks outlets(Nov 06 2009) As Barnes & Noble prepares to close all but two of their B. Dalton mall stores by January 2010, Borders announced that they will close about 200 of the...
Full Story
NPR & ABA Partner to Share Book Coverage(Nov 05 2009) In a joining of like minds, NPR and ABA have partnered to provide thoughtful bestsellers and unique book coverage to readers, both on NPR.org and...
Full Story